Membrane Lesions and Reduced Life Span of Red Blood Cells in Preeclampsia as Evidenced by Atomic Force Microscopy.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Giosheva, Ina Strijkova, Velichka Komsa-Penkova, Regina Krumova, Sashka Langari, Ariana Danailova, Avgustina Taneva, Stefka G. Stoyanova, Tanya Topalova, Lora Gartchev, Emil Georgieva, Galya Todinova, Svetla
Editor	Strauss, Jerome F.
Copyright Year	2023
Abstract	Preeclampsia (PE) presents with maternal de novo hypertension and significant proteinuria and is one of the leading causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality with unknown etiology. The disease is associated with inflammatory vascular response and severe red blood cell (RBC) morphology changes. This study examined the nanoscopic morphological changes of RBCs from PE women versus normotensive healthy pregnant controls (PCs) and non-pregnant controls (NPCs) applying atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging. The results revealed that the membrane of fresh PE RBCs differed significantly from healthy ones by the presence of invaginations and protrusions and an increased roughness value (Rrms) (4.7 ± 0.8 nm for PE vs. 3.8 ± 0.5 nm and 2.9 ± 0.4 nm for PCs and NPCs, respectively). PE-cells aging resulted in more pronounced protrusions and concavities, with exponentially increasing Rrms values, in contrast to the controls, where the Rrms parameter decreased linearly with time. The Rrms, evaluated on a 2 × 2 µm2 scanned area, for senescent PE cells (13 ± 2.0 nm) was significantly higher (p < 0.01) than that of PCs (1.5 ± 0.2 nm) and NPCs (1.9 ± 0.2 nm). Furthermore, the RBCs from PE patients appeared fragile, and often only ghosts were observed instead of intact cells at 20-30 days of aging. Oxidative-stress simulation on healthy cells led to RBC membrane features similar to those observed for PE cells. The results demonstrate that the most pronounced effects on RBCs in PE patients are related to impaired membrane homogeneity and strongly altered roughness values, as well as to vesiculation and ghost formation in the course of cell aging.
Journal	International Journal of Molecular Sciences [Int J Mol Sci]
Volume Number	24
DOI	10.3390/ijms24087100
PubMed Central reference number	PMC10138579
Issue Number	8
PubMed reference number	37108270
e-ISSN	14220067
Language	English
Publisher	Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI)
Publisher Date	2023-04-12
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	preeclampsia red blood cells atomic force microscopy membrane roughness membrane impairment cell senescence
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Molecular Biology Spectroscopy Catalysis Computer Science Applications Medicine Inorganic Chemistry Organic Chemistry