Expression and significance of Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 in placenta of Early-onset patients with severe preeclampsia

Objective:To study the expression of Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 in placenta of early-onset patients with severe preeclampsia and the relationship between it and occur and development of severe preeclampsia.Methods:Twenty normal pregnant women (control group) and 40 women with severe preeclampsia (early-onset group 20; later-onset group 20)were selected. The cellular distribution of Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 in placenta in tree groups was determined by immunohistochemistry and the mean density was measured by computer image analysis system.Results:The expression of Caspase-3 in trophoblast of patient with sever preeclampsia was significantly higher than that in the controls,but Bcl-2 was highly lower than that in the controls .The expression of Caspase-3 correlated with the expression of Bcl-2 in placenta tissues. There was no significant difference in the expression of two proteins between the early onset and late onset sever preeclampsia.Conclusion:The high levels of Caspase-3 and low levels of Bcl-2 in placenta may be related to the etiology of preeclampsia.