Molecular subphenotyping using placental transcriptomics in early-onset preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction

Placental disorders contribute to pregnancy complications including preeclampsia (PE) and fetal growth restriction (FGR), but debate regarding their specific pathobiology persists. Our objective was to apply transcriptomics with weighted gene correlation network analysis (WGCNA) to further clarify the placental dysfunction in these conditions. Overall design: We performed RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) with WGNCA using 30 human placental samples, separated into villous tissue (VT) and decidua basalis (DB) and clinically grouped as follows: (1) early-onset PE (EOPE, n=8); (2) EOPE+FGR (n=7); normotensive, nonanomalous preterm FGR (n=5); idiopathic preterm birth (iPTB, n=5); and uncomplicated term births (TB, n=5).