Comparison of nitric oxide secretion by human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells in healthy pregnant women and those with preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is one of the most common complications during pregnancy that occurs after 20th weeks of pregnancy in women with normal blood pressure. The pathophysiology of this disease is unknown. Due to changes in serum level of nitric oxide in women with preeclampsia and also the important role of mesenchymal stem cells in the secretion of nitric oxide as an immunoregulator، in this study، we aimed to evaluate the level of nitric oxide in secretions of adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells in women with normal pregnancy and patients with preeclampsia. Subcutaneous adipose tissue of 10 preeclamptic patients and 10 healthy pregnant women was collected during cesarean operation. After isolation and proliferation of mesenchymal stem cells، capablity of their differentiation and their immunophenotyping charactetistics were assessed. Then، their release of nitric oxide was evaluated using Griess method. Stem cells isolated from adipose tissue in both groups differentiated into osteocyte and adipocytes. Flow-cytometric analysis showed the expression of the markers CD90، CD73 CD44 and CD105 and lack of expression of the markers CD-14، CD34، CD45 and HLA-DR in both groups. No significant change was observed for the level of nitric oxide secretion in both groups. The present results suggest that nitric oxide secreted by mesenchymal stem cells do not have a significant contribution in variation of serum level of this factor and possibly do not play a role in the pathology of preeclampsia. However، such study with a higher sample size is suggested.