Circulating RNA Profiles of Healthy and Preeclamptic Pregnancies

This prospective study investigated whether circulating RNA (C-RNA; cell free RNA present in the bloodstream) measurements could non-invasively monitor pregnancy status, with emphasis on detecting molecular markers associated with preterm preeclampsia. Whole blood samples were collected from pregnant women at the time of diagnosis with early-onset preeclampsia with severe features. Blood samples were also obtained normotypical control pregnancies and from patients diagnosed with late-onset preeclampsia for comparison. For all samples, C-RNA was extracted from 4 mL blood and whole transcriptome enrichment performed on cDNA libraries prior to sequencing to a target depth of 50M reads on an Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. Throughout the course of this work, whole transcriptome RNA sequencing data was obtained from 289 C-RNA samples collected from 178 subjects. The complete dataset consists of samples from the following cohorts: Illumina Preeclampsia Cohort (iPEC): 40 pregnancies at the time of early-onset preeclampsia diagnosis and 73 gestational age-matched controls PEARL preeclampsia cohort: 12 early-onset and 12 late-onset preeclampsia patients PEARL healthy control cohort: 152 longitundinal samples collected from 41 healthy pregnancies ]]>
PEARL (NCT02379832) Inclusion criteria Nulliparous women (no previous delivery >e;20 weeks) Expect to deliver in recruiting center Control group: recruited between 11 - 13 6/7 weeks of gestation Case group: recruited at time of diagnosis of preeclampsia >20 weeks of gestation Exclusion criteria Multiple pregnancy Pregnant women <18 years old at recruitment iPEC (NCT02808494) Inclusion criteria Women 18 years of age or older Pregnant women with a viable singleton gestation Gestational age between 20 0/7 and 33 6/7 weeks determined by ultrasound and/or LMP per ACOG guidelines Case group: Preeclampsia diagnosed with severe features per ACOG guidelines Exclusion criteria Known malignancy History of maternal organ or bone marrow transplant Maternal blood transfusion in the last 8 weeks Chronic hypertension diagnosed prior to current pregnancy Type I, II or gestational diabetes Fetal anomaly or known chromosome abnormality Control group: Active labor Control group: Thrombocytopenia (<100,000 plts/mL) Control group: Impaired liver function Control group: Newly developed renal insufficiency (serum creatine >1.1 mg/dL) Control group: Pulmonary edema Control group: New-onset cerebral disturbances or scotomata Control group: Preeclampsia in prior or current pregnancy Control group: Fetal growth restriction ]]>
PEARL (NCT02379832) March 2015 - Study started September 2016 - Primary study completion December 2017 - Study completion iPEC (NCT02808494) March 2016 - Study started November 2017 - Primary study completion June 2018 - Study completion ]]>