TY - JOUR
T1 - Increase in the plasma levels of protein Z-dependent protease inhibitor in normal pregnancies but not in non-pregnant patients with unexplained recurrent miscarriage
AU - Souri, Masayoshi
AU - Sugiura-Ogasawara, Mayumi
AU - Saito, Shigeru
AU - Kemkes-Matthes, Bettina
AU - Meijers, Joost C. M.
AU - Ichinose, Akitada
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Protein Z (PZ)-dependent p-otease inhibitor (ZPI) is a serine protease inhibitor which efficiently inactivates activated factor X, when ZPI is complexed with PZ in plasma. Reduced plasma levels of ZPI and PZ have been reported in association with thrombosis. It has also been reported that PZ increases during pregnancy and that its partial deficiency is related to early pregnancy loss or recurrent miscarriage (RM). However, until now there has been no report on ZPI in pregnancy. To explore the possible role(s) of ZPI in the maintenance of pregnancy, we studied 42 non-pregnant normal women, 32 women with normal pregnancies, and 134 cases of unexplained FM in Japan, as well as 64 non-pregnant normal German females. Plasma ZPI was measured by in-house ELISA. There were significantly higher concentrations of plasma ZPI in normal pregnancies compared to non-pregnant women. The present study also confirmed that both factor X, the major target of ZPI, and protein Z increased during normal pregnancies. This increased ZPI and PZ may counteract the increased activated factor X, which may in turn contribute to the maintenance of normal placental circulation. Plasma ZPI levels were unchanged in non-pregnant RM women, while the plasma PZ level was slightly reduced, a finding consistent with existing reports. The exact relationship between RM and this unaltered ZPI with mild PZ reduction relative to normal pregnancies warrants further investigation
AB - Protein Z (PZ)-dependent p-otease inhibitor (ZPI) is a serine protease inhibitor which efficiently inactivates activated factor X, when ZPI is complexed with PZ in plasma. Reduced plasma levels of ZPI and PZ have been reported in association with thrombosis. It has also been reported that PZ increases during pregnancy and that its partial deficiency is related to early pregnancy loss or recurrent miscarriage (RM). However, until now there has been no report on ZPI in pregnancy. To explore the possible role(s) of ZPI in the maintenance of pregnancy, we studied 42 non-pregnant normal women, 32 women with normal pregnancies, and 134 cases of unexplained FM in Japan, as well as 64 non-pregnant normal German females. Plasma ZPI was measured by in-house ELISA. There were significantly higher concentrations of plasma ZPI in normal pregnancies compared to non-pregnant women. The present study also confirmed that both factor X, the major target of ZPI, and protein Z increased during normal pregnancies. This increased ZPI and PZ may counteract the increased activated factor X, which may in turn contribute to the maintenance of normal placental circulation. Plasma ZPI levels were unchanged in non-pregnant RM women, while the plasma PZ level was slightly reduced, a finding consistent with existing reports. The exact relationship between RM and this unaltered ZPI with mild PZ reduction relative to normal pregnancies warrants further investigation
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1160/TH11-08-0591
DO - https://doi.org/10.1160/TH11-08-0591
M3 - Article
C2 - 22274138
SN - 0340-6245
VL - 107
SP - 507
EP - 512
JO - Thrombosis and haemostasis
JF - Thrombosis and haemostasis
IS - 3
ER -