We then evaluated the impact of pre-pregnancy BMI on the modulation of the LDLr
SGX523 in term placenta. Each LC and HC groups were divided into three subgroups: low, normal, and high BMI. Of interest, our analysis reveals that the level of the LDLr protein expression in placenta is modulated by maternal pre-pregnancy BMI. In LC group (Fig. 3A, white bars), a lower maternal pre-pregnancy BMI leads to a significant increase in the expression of the LDLr compared to normal BMI (0.53 ± 0.070 vs 0.383 ± 0.038 ?p = 0.043
cool , while no such significant observation is made in the HC group (black bars). However, for HC women, a dramatic decrease of the receptor
expression in the highest BMI group is observed compared to the lowest BMI group (0.53 ± 0.070 vs 0.068 ± 0.039, §§§p = 0.0007), since there is no difference for LC women. These results suggest that even if the BMI is not modified by changes in the cholesterol concentration ( Table 1). In fact, the level of the LDLr expression in placenta appears to be increased when the BMI is decreased even in the absence of plasma hypercholesterolemia suggesting another regulation of the LDLr expression.
