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. 2025 Mar 19.
doi: 10.1007/s00795-025-00429-z. Online ahead of print.

Expression of Bax and Bcl-2 in the placenta from pre-term, term, and post-term deliveries: immunohistochemical analysis

Xvni Tang  1 , Liyan Ye  2 , Ting Yan  2 , Xiujuan Zheng  3 , Lichao Yuan  3
Affiliations

Expression of Bax and Bcl-2 in the placenta from pre-term, term, and post-term deliveries: immunohistochemical analysis

Xvni Tang et al. Med Mol Morphol. .

Abstract

The placenta is the most critical organ during pregnancy and its developmental status directly impacts fetal health. Placental dysfunction is associated with various pregnancy complications, including preterm birth, fetal growth restriction, and premature rupture of membranes (PROM). This study aimed to elucidate the expression changes of Bax and Bcl-2 and their association with pregnancy-related complications, providing new insights into placental dysfunction during pregnancy and offering a theoretical foundation for clinical diagnosis and prevention. The placental samples from 118 late pregnant women were retrospectively analyzed. They were assigned into pre-term, term, post-term, PROM, and non-PROM groups based on gestational age and the occurrence of PROM. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining was performed to gauge the Bax and Bcl-2 expressions in placenta. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was subsequently conducted to assess their associated with efficacy for PROM. The weight and volume of placentas in the pre-term group were sharply smaller to those in the term and post-term groups, with no apparent fibrosis or calcification observed. The term and post-term groups exhibited marked elevated Bax expression in the parturient group in contrast to the non-parturient group (P < 0.05), while there existed no substantial significance in Bcl-2 expression. The area under the curve (AUC) for Bax and Bcl-2 was 0.975 and 0.596, respectively, with a combined associated with value of 0.978, higher to single predictions. Bax and Bcl-2 expressions in late pregnancy placentas were associated with the onset of parturient status and PROM and their combined prediction exhibited accurate PROM predicted. These findings offered a new perspective for understanding the physiological and pathological changes of the placenta during pregnancy.

Keywords: Bax; Bcl-2; Late pregnancy; Placenta; Premature rupture of membranes.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare that there are no competing interests. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was approved by the local ethics committee of the Affiliated Jinhua Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine. All experiments were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations such as the Declaration of Helsinki and the patients signed the informed consent form and agreed to be published. Consent for publication: Not applicable.

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