Chronic Venous Disease in Pregnant Women Causes an Increase in ILK in the Placental Villi Associated with a Decrease in E-Cadherin

Chronic venous disease (CVD) is a multifactorial vascular disorder frequently manifested in lower limbs in the form of varicose veins (VVs). Women are a vulnerable population for suffering from CVD, especially during pregnancy, when a plethora of changes occur in their cardiovascular system. Previous studies have indicated a worrisome association between CVD in pregnancy with the placental structure and function. Findings include an altered cellular behavior and extracellular matrix (ECM) composition. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a critical molecule involved in multiple physiological and pathological conditions, and together with cadherins, is essential to mediate cell to ECM and cell to cell interplay, respectively. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the implication of ILK and a set of cadherins (e-cadherin, cadherin-6 and cadherin-17) in placentas of women with CVD in order to unravel the possible pathophysiological role of these components. Gene expression (RT-qPCR) and protein expression (immunohistochemistry) studies were performed. Our results show a significant increase in the gene and protein expression of ILK, cadherin-6 and cadherin-17 and a decrease of e-cadherin in the placenta of women with CVD. Overall, this work shows that an abnormal expression of ILK, e-cadherin, cadherin-6 and cadherin-17 may be implicated in the pathological changes occurring in the placental tissue. Further studies should be conducted to determine the possible associations of these changes with maternal and fetal well-being.