Effect of Pravastatin on Placental Expression of Epidermal Growth Factor-like Domain 7 in Early-Onset Pre-Eclampsia: A New Potential Mechanism of Action

The primary intervention for pre-eclampsia (PE) remains iatrogenic delivery, which can be very preterm and not optimal for the fetus. Although many efforts have been made to prevent and manage PE, there is still a dearth of drugs to treat its pathophysiological progression. Pravastatin (PRA), a hydrophilic statin, has gained interest for the prevention and treatment of PE. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the ability of PRA to modulate factors involved in placentation, such as Epidermal Growth Factor-Like Domain 7 (EGFL7), in human chorionic villous culture from healthy controls and women with PE. A total of 18 women were enrolled: 10 controls and 8 cases. Chorionic villous explants were maintained in culture for 24 h with or without 10 μM Pravastatin, and the expression of EGFL7 and NOTCH1 pathway members was evaluated by qRT-PCR and Western blot analysis. The rationale of the present study was to establish an ex vivo model to identify potential different responses to PRA treatment of chorionic villous explants in order to clarify the molecular mechanism of PRA in the prevention and treatment of PE and to predict whether there are specific clinical conditions that modulate the response to the drug treatment. Within PE patients, two different groups were identified: the high responders, whose villous cultures exhibit significantly increased expressions of the EGFL7 and Notch pathways after PRA incubation; and the low responders, who are high-risk PE patients in which prophylaxis failed to prevent PE and PRA was not able to modulate EGFL7 expression. In conclusion, we identified EGFL7 as a new factor regulated by PRA, placing interest in early discrimination between low- and high- risk women, in which the well-known pharmacological prophylaxis seems to be ineffective, and to explore new potential prevention strategies.