Elevated Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF)-α mRNA Expression Correlates with Nuclear Factor Kappa B Expression in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Preeclampsia

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate, compare and correlate the mRNA expression of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in preeclampsia and normotensive group. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional comparative study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The study was done in the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, from November 2016 to November 2018. METHODOLOGY: Blood samples were collected and mRNA expression of NF-kB and TNF-alpha was measured quantitatively by real-time polymerase chain reaction in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in 27 preeclamptic and 27 normal pregnancies. The preeclamptic group was further divided into early and late onset preeclampsia. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS (version 22). RESULTS: The peripheral blood mononuclear cells mRNA expression of NF-kB and TNF-alpha differed within the two groups with an increase in expression in the diseased group (p <0.001). There was an increase of 2.79 fold in mRNA expression of TNF-alpha while the result for NF-alphaB was 2.28 fold. The difference in the expression of both NF-kB and TNF-alpha was significant within the two subgroups of preeclampsia (p <0.001). TNF-alpha was found to be strongly correlated with NF-kB (p <0.01).