Problems of Radiation Medicine and Radiobiology

A. A. Zhyvetska-Denysova, I. I. Vorobiova, N. Ya. Skrypchenko, T. D. Zadorozhna,
V. B. Tkachenko, Yu. M. Bondarenko, S. K. Stryzhak

State Institution «Institute of Pediatrics, Obstetrics, and Gynecology named after Academician
О. M. Lukyanova of the National Аcademy of Мedical Sciences of Ukraine», 8 Platona Mayborody St.,
Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine

MORPHOLOGICAL AND IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL FEATURES OF PLACENTAL DAMAGE DUE TO THE INCORPORATION OF ¹³⁷Cs

Objective: to investigate the morphological and immunohistochemical features of placental damage due to the incorporation of ¹³⁷Cs depending on the scenario of pregnancy completion.
Materials and methods. The study material consisted of placentas from 60 women with reproductive losses in anamnesis and signs of termination of the current pregnancy (first group) and placental samples from 30 women with an uncomplicated gestation and an unencumbered anamnesis (control group). The detailed study required the distribution of placental samples from the first group into subgroups. Subgroup 1a included 38 placentas from women who gave birth at 37–40 weeks, despite signs of termination of the current pregnancy. Subgroup 1b – placentas of 13 women who gave birth at a gestation period of 28–36 weeks + 6 days. Subgroup 1c – 9 placental samples from women who gave birth at a gestation period of 22–27 weeks + 6 days. The volumetric activity of the ¹³⁷Cs in the placentas was measured using β-spectrometer. The histology of the placenta was studied using a standard technique. The following expressions were studied in placenta: CD31 / PECAM-1, CD45 / T200 / LCA, CD56 / NCAM-1, CEA / CD66e Ab-2, Vimentin, using indirect streptavidin peroxidase detection method.
Results. Placentas accumulate ¹³⁷Cs. The different volumetric activity of the isotope correlates with scenarios of pregnancy. Due to the action of incorporated ¹³⁷Cs with a specific mass of more than 1.1 Bq/kg, placental dysfunction develops. The consequences of placental dysfunction depend on the volumetric activity of the ¹³⁷Cs and the preservation of adaptive and compensatory reactions in the placenta. Morphological and immunohistochemical features of placental damage to incorporated ¹³⁷Cs were established, depending on the scenario of completion of pregnancy. A marker of unfavorable completion of pregnancy is the expression of a carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in the placenta.
Conclusions. Premature termination of pregnancy (PTP) is a multifactorial pathology associated with pathological changes in immune and neuroendocrine regulation and hereditary, infectious, and environmental factors that disrupt the adaptation mechanisms in the mother-placenta-fetus system. Intraplacental irradiation of ¹³⁷Cs is one of the factors in the multifactorial nature of reproductive losses. As a result of intraplacental irradiation of ¹³⁷Cs, the architecture of the placenta is disturbed, the activity of pro-inflammatory cytokines CD45 and CD56 increases, and the coagulation cascade is activated. Extreme effects depend on the volumetric activity of the isotope incorporated in the placenta and the organ’s compensatory capacity. Accumulation of up to 1.0 Bq/kg ¹³⁷Cs does not affect the course of gestation. Internal irradiation with an activity of 4.5–10.4 Bq/kg ¹³⁷Cs triggers late preterm labor. The nature of the damages corresponds to the category of «lesion of the maternal stroma» of the placenta. The volumetric activity of ¹³⁷Cs over 10.4 Bq/kg is a probable cause of early preterm labor and antenatal fetal death. At the same time, the maternal and fetal structures of the placenta suffer damage. Expression of vimentin is a marker of placental destruction due to internal irradiation of ¹³⁷Cs with a specific gravity of more than 4.5 Bq/kg. Expression of CEA in the structures of the placenta of women with PTP is a unique find and marker of premature birth and antenatal fetal death with intraplacental irradiation of ¹³⁷Cs with an activity of more than 4.5 Bq/kg.
Key words: pregnancy, placenta, reproductive losses, ¹³⁷Cs, CD45 / T200 / LCA, CD56 / NCAM-1, CD31 / PECAM-1, Vimentin, CEA / CD66e Ab-2.

Problems of Radiation Medicine and Radiobiology.
2022;27:474-494. doi: 10.33145/2304-8336-2022-27-474-494

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