Histochemical evaluation of protein oxidative modification in fibrinoid of the placenta, depending on calcium deposits, combined with iron deficiency anemia of pregnancy

Abstract

Introduction. Both calcium and iron significantly affect the level of free radical processes. The aim of the study was to determine the levels of protein oxidative modification in fibrinoid of placenta of different localization areas, depending on the variants of calcium deposits, based on histochemical methods of bromophenol blue staining of proteins into „acidic“ and „basic“ by Mikel Calvo with quantitative assessment of results by means of computed microspectrophotometry. Materials and methods. 164 cases of placental calcification, including 84 cases of iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy (IDAP) and 80 cases of pregnancy without anemia, were studied. Histochemical method of bromophenol blue into „acidic“ and „basic“ proteins by Mikel Calvo with the quantitative assessment of the staining results was performed by use of computed microspectrophotometry on the digital copy of the image with the fibrinoid areas in the computed program „ImageJ“. Results. The differences between the average indicator R/B, which is the measure of protein oxidative modification, were discovered both in fibrinoid as a part of the chorionic tree and in the basal plate of the placenta in particular types of calcium deposits. Conclusion. According to the histochemical study, pregnancies with iron deficiency anemia were characterized by fibrinoid with deposits of calcium type II and type IV (fine-granular deposits) both in chorial tree and in the basal plate of the placenta, where the protein oxidative modification processes increase compared to those without anemia.

Keywords

• calcium deposits
• iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy
• protein oxidative modification