A novel bridge between oxidative stress and immunity: the interaction between hydrogen peroxide and human leukocyte antigen G in placental trophoblasts during preeclampsia

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate a possible association between hydrogen peroxide and human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) in preeclampsia. STUDY DESIGN: We explored the correlation between HLA-G and hydrogen peroxide in preeclamptic (n = 30) and normotensive (n = 30) placentas, which was confirmed by in vitro experiments. Furthermore, RNA interference was used to explore the influence of HLA-G on the proliferation, apoptosis and invasion of HTR-8/SVneo cells when exposed to hydrogen peroxide. RESULTS: We found an inverse correlation between hydrogen peroxide and HLA-G expression in preeclamptic placentas. High levels of hydrogen peroxide could down-regulate HLA-G expression in HTR-8/SVneo. Compared with HLA-G knockdown HTR-8/SVneo, increased proliferation inhibition, higher apoptosis, and decreased cell invasion were found in the cell expressing HLA-G when exposed to hydrogen peroxide. CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight that high levels of hydrogen peroxide can down-regulate HLA-G expression in trophoblasts during preeclampsia and trophoblasts expressing HLA-G are vulnerable to oxidative stress.