MicroRNA-155 expression and Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase (eNOS)gene variants in Egyptian patients with preeclampsia

Background: A significant cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality is preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication that has recently been responsible for 10 to 15% of fatalities among pregnant women globally. Purpose: to clarify the role of microRNA-155 and endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase (eNOS) gene variants as diagnostic and predictive biomarkers in patients with preeclampsia. Patients and Methods: This case-control study was conducted at the Departments of Gynecology & Obstetrics and Medical Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, during the period from January 2024 to January 2025. The study was carried out on 100 pregnant women who were categorized into 3 groups: control group: included 30 normotensive pregnant women, gestational hypertension group: 30 pregnant women with gestational hypertension and preeclampsia group: 40 pregnant women who were clinically diagnosed with preeclampsia. microRNA-155 expression and the frequency of eNOS gene variants were measured in all groups. Results: In comparison to the control group, the expression level of microRNA-155 was markedly increased in both the gestational hypertension and preeclampsia groups. Median expression values increased progressively across the groups: 0.99 in controls, 1.40 in gestational hypertension, and 7.0 in preeclampsia. Regarding eNOS gene polymorphism (G894T) ,the frequency of the T allele was higher in the preeclampsia group (31.25%) as compared to gestational hypertension (26.7%) and controls (21.7%). Conclusions: microRNA-155 is a promising diagnostic and predictive biomarker for preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is more common in people who carry the eNOS 894T allele.