Expression and significance of HB-EGF in trophoblast of patients with spontaneous abortion

Objective To appraise the expression and significance of heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor(HB-EGF) in trophoblast of subjects with spontaneous abortion or normal pregnancy and its relevance with PCNA. Methods The expression of HB-EGF and proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA) in trophoblast of 20 patients with spontaneous abortion and early normal pregnancy were analysed by immunohistochemical method. Results HB-EGF expression was localized in the cytoplasm of cytotrophoblast and syncytiotrophoblast, but no expression was present in those with spontaneous abortion. Expression of HB-EGF and PCNA in trophoblast of patients with spontaneous abortion were significantly lower than those in normal pregnancy. HB-EGF and PCNA were positively correlated(r= 0.454,P0.01). Conclusions Expression of HB-EGF is correlated with proliferation of trophoblast. The occurrence of spontaneous abortion may be related to the reduced expression of HB-EGF in the trophoblast.