Pilot Study on the Effect of Patient Condition and Clinical Parameters on Hypoxia-Induced Factor Expression: HIF1A, EPAS1 and HIF3A in Human Colostrum Cells

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) may play a role in mammary gland development, milk production and secretion in mammals. Due to the limited number of scientific reports on the expression of HIF genes in colostrum cells, it was decided to examine the expression of <i>HIF1A</i>, <i>HIF3A</i> and <i>EPAS1</i> in the these cells, collected from 35 patients who voluntarily agreed to provide their biological material for research, were informed about the purpose of the study and signed a consent to participate in it. The expression of HIF genes was assessed using qPCR. Additionally, the influence of clinical parameters (method of delivery, occurrence of stillbirths in previous pregnancies, BMI level before pregnancy and at the moment of delivery, presence of hypertension during pregnancy, presence of <i>Escherichia coli</i> in vaginal culture, iron supplement and heparin intake during pregnancy) on the gene expression was assessed, revealing statistically significant correlations. The expression of <i>HIF1A</i> was 3.5-fold higher in the case of patients with the presence of <i>E. coli</i> in vaginal culture (<i>p</i> = 0.041) and 2.5 times higher (<i>p</i> = 0.031) in samples from women who used heparin during pregnancy. Approximately 1.7-fold higher expression of the <i>EPAS1</i> was observed in women who did not supplement iron during pregnancy (<i>p</i> = 0.046). To our knowledge, these are the first studies showing the relationship between HIF expression in cells from breast milk and the method of delivery and health condition of women giving birth. The assessment of HIF expression requires deeper examination in a larger study group, and the results of further studies will allow to determine whether HIF can become biomarkers in pregnancy pathology states.