Placental pathology predicts infantile physical development during first 18 months in Japanese population: Hamamatsu birth cohort for mothers and children (HBC Study)

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between placental pathological findings and physiological development during the neonate and infantile periods. Study participants were 258 infants from singleton pregnancies enrolled in the Hamamatsu Birth Cohort for Mothers and Children (HBC Study) whose placentas were stored in our pathological division. They were followed up from birth to 18 months of age. Physiological development (body weight and the ponderal index [PI]) was assessed at 0, 1, 4, 6, 10, 14, and 18 months. Placental blocks were prepared by random sampling and eleven pathological findings were assessed, as follows: ‘Accelerated villous maturation’, ‘Decidual vasculopathy’, ‘Thrombosis or Intramural fibrin deposition’, ‘Avascular villi’, ‘Delayed villous maturation’, ‘Maternal inflammatory response’, ‘Fetal inflammatory response’, ‘Villitis of unknown etiology (VUE)’, ‘Deciduitis’, ‘Maternal vascular malperfusion’, and ‘Fetal vascular malperfusion’. Mixed model analysis with the use of the xtmixed command by the generic statistical software, Stata version 13.1., identified ‘Accelerated villous maturation’ and ‘Maternal vascular malperfusion’ as significant predictors of a lower body weight and ‘Deciduitis’ as a significant predictor of a small PI, throughout the first 18 months of life. In conclusion, the present study is the first to demonstrate that some pathological findings of the placenta are associated with changes in infantile physical development during the initial 18 months of life in the Japanese population.

Placental pathology predicts infantile neurodevelopment

“…Extensive efforts have been made over the past few decades to establish effective biomarkers through the application of ‘omics’ technologies, which may identify individuals at high risk of developing NCDs; however, only a very small number have been translated into routine health care support 39 , 40 . The present study revealed that some placental pathological findings were associated with changes in infantile neurodevelopment, in addition to our previous findings on body weight and body composition 27 in the Japanese population, suggesting that placental pathological findings are applicable as a type of biomarker for predicting neuronal as well as physical development after birth. Follow-up investigations of the offspring of the present participants are now ongoing.…”

“…After weighing and an examination of gross morphology, whole placentas were stored in our pathological division after being vacuum-sealed in plastic packages with 10% formaldehyde (0.1 M sodium citrate buffer, pH 7.4). Seven paraffin blocks were systematically obtained from each placenta for the pathological examination by systematic random sampling, as previously described 18 , 19 , 27 . In brief, 5-mm-wide linear parallel slices of placental tissue were cut at an interval of approximately 3 cm perpendicular to the greatest dimension of the placental axis.…”

“…1 A,B) as a significant predictor of a lower body weight and ‘Deciduitis’ (F i g. 1 I) as a significant predictor of a small ponderal index, i.e. lean tendency, throughout the first 18 months of life using 258 whole placentas from singleton pregnancies, which were stored in our pathological division, among 1,258 pregnant women who were enrolled in the HBC study 27 . We planned the present study as a newly evolving investigation of the previous study and conducted a comprehensive analysis to identify the relationships between infantile neurodevelopment during 10–40 months of age, Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) 28 , and placental pathological findings using the same 258 whole placentas (Table 1 , 2 ) from singleton pregnancies in the HBC study.…”

Gross appearance of the fetal membrane on the placental surface is associated with histological chorioamnionitis and neonatal respiratory disorders

“…Three researchers (Y.H., N.I., and M.M.) macroscopically evaluated 5,201 placentas delivered at Hamamatsu University Hospital between April 2010 and March 2017, among which 1380 placentas were pathologically examined according to the criteria of S1 Table as previously described [ 15 ]. Written informed consent was obtained from the participating parturient during pregnancy after a full explanation of the study.…”

“…After they had been weighed and their gross morphology examined, whole placentas were stored in our pathological division after being vacuum-sealed in plastic packages with 10% formaldehyde, as described previously. Seven paraffin blocks were systematically obtained from each placenta for the pathological examination by systematic random sampling as previously described [ 15 ]. Two rolls of extraplacental membranes per placenta were together embedded in a block to make a single section.…”