Endocan expression in placenta of women with hypertension

Aim The aim of our study was to determine the endocan‐1 expression in placenta of hypertensive women, and its association with maternal and fetal outcomes. Methods This was a cross‐sectional study consisted of 21 pregnant women with hypertension and 23 without hypertension. The gestational age ranged from 28 to 39 weeks (hypertensive) and 32 to 40 weeks (normotensive). The paraffin embedded formalin fixed placenta tissue blocks were retrieved from the pathology archives. Endocan immunohistochemistry was performed on tissue sections of full thickness and maternal surface of the placenta. The endocan expression was determined in fetal endothelial cells, maternal endothelial cells, cytotrophoblasts, syncytiotrophoblasts and decidual cells. The differences in endocan expression in placenta between hypertensive and normotensive subjects were evaluated by Pearson chi‐square test and t‐test were used in the statistical analysis. Results The endocan expression was significantly higher in fetal endothelial cells (P