Single-Cell transcriptomic profiling of the vascular endothelium in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, particularly preeclampsia, are major drivers of maternal mortality, yet their systemic impact on the maternal endothelium remains poorly understood at cellular resolution. This study applied single-cell RNA sequencing to peripheral blood-derived endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) to map endothelial heterogeneity in Uzbek pregnant women with preeclampsia (PE, n=22), gestational hypertension (GH, n=20), and normotensive controls (CTRL, n=23). We analyzed 48,512 high-quality single ECFC transcriptomes, identifying 8 distinct endothelial subclusters. A pro-inflammatory subcluster (EC-3) was significantly expanded in PE (18.2% of cells) compared to GH (9.5%) and CTRL (4.1%, p<0.001), while an angiogenic subcluster (EC-6) was depleted. Cells within the inflammatory EC-3 cluster from PE patients showed marked upregulation of adhesion molecules (SELE, VCAM1), chemokines (CXCL8, CCL2), and EDN1. A rare, severe-PE-specific subpopulation (EC-3b) expressing interferon-response genes was identified. The inflammatory transcriptomic signature strongly correlated with clinical severity (SBP: ρ=0.78, p<0.001). A model combining EC-3 abundance and inflammatory score discriminated PE from CTRL with high accuracy (AUC=0.97).
Language: English
Subfield: Obstetrics and Gynecology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7128790395
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