Prognostic and mechanistic potential of progesterone sulfates in intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy and pruritus gravidarum

A challenge in obstetrics is to distinguish pathological symptoms from those associated with normal changes of pregnancy, typified by the need to differentiate whether gestational pruritus of the skin is an early symptom of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) or due to benign pruritus gravidarum. ICP is characterized by raised serum bile acids and complicated by spontaneous preterm labor and stillbirth. A biomarker for ICP would be invaluable for early diagnosis and treatment and to enable its differentiation from other maternal diseases. Three progesterone sulfate compounds, whose concentrations have not previously been studied, were newly synthesized and assayed in the serum of three groups of ICP patients and found to be significantly higher in ICP at 9-15 weeks of gestation and prior to symptom onset (group 1 cases/samples: ICP n = 35/80, uncomplicated pregnancy = 29/100), demonstrating that all three progesterone sulfates are prognostic for ICP. Concentrations of progesterone sulfates were associated with itch severity and, in combination with autotaxin, distinguished pregnant women with itch that would subsequently develop ICP from pruritus gravidarum (group 2: ICP n = 41, pruritus gravidarum n = 14). In a third group of first-trimester samples all progesterone sulfates were significantly elevated in serum from low-risk asymptomatic women who subsequently developed ICP (ICP/uncomplicated pregnancy n = 54/51). Finally, we show mechanistically that progesterone sulfates mediate itch by evoking a Tgr5-dependent scratch response in mice. Conclusion: Our discovery that sulfated progesterone metabolites are a prognostic indicator for ICP will help predict onset of ICP and distinguish it from benign pruritus gravidarum, enabling targeted obstetric care to a high-risk population. Delineation of a progesterone sulfate-TGR5 pruritus axis identifies a therapeutic target for itch management in IC

Ursodeoxycholic acid in intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy: a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis

Background Ursodeoxycholic acid is commonly used to treat intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, yet its largest trial detected minimal benefit for a composite outcome (stillbirth, preterm birth, and neonatal unit admission). We aimed to examine whether ursodeoxycholic acid affects specific adverse perinatal outcomes. Methods In this systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Global Health, MIDIRS, and Cochrane without language restrictions for relevant articles published between database inception, and Jan 1, 2020, using search terms referencing intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, ursodeoxycholic acid, and perinatal outcomes. Eligible studies had 30 or more study participants and reported on at least one individual with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy and bile acid concentrations of 40 μmol/L or more. We also included two unpublished cohort studies. Individual participant data were collected from the authors of selected studies. The primary outcome was the prevalence of stillbirth, for which we anticipated there would be insufficient data to achieve statistical power. Therefore, we included a composite of stillbirth and preterm birth as a main secondary outcome. A mixed-effects meta-analysis was done using multi-level modelling and adjusting for bile acid concentration, parity, and multifetal pregnancy. Individual participant data analyses were done for all studies and in different subgroups, which were produced by limiting analyses to randomised controlled trials only, singleton pregnancies only, or two-arm studies only. This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42019131495. Findings The authors of the 85 studies fulfilling our inclusion criteria were contacted. Individual participant data from 6974 women in 34 studies were included in the meta-analysis, of whom 4726 (67·8%) took ursodeoxycholic acid. Stillbirth occurred in 35 (0·7%) of 5097 fetuses among women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy treated with ursodeoxycholic acid and in 12 (0·6%) of 2038 fetuses among women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy not treated with ursodeoxycholic acid (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1·04, 95% CI 0·35–3·07; p=0·95). Ursodeoxycholic acid treatment also had no effect on the prevalence of stillbirth when considering only randomised controlled trials (aOR 0·29, 95% CI 0·04–2·42; p=0·25). Ursodeoxycholic acid treatment had no effect on the prevalence of the composite outcome in all studies (aOR 1·28, 95% CI 0·86–1·91; p=0·22), but was associated with a reduced composite outcome when considering only randomised controlled trials (0·60, 0·39–0·91; p=0·016). Interpretation Ursodeoxycholic acid treatment had no significant effect on the prevalence of stillbirth in women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, but our analysis was probably limited by the low overall event rate. However, when considering only randomised controlled trials, ursodeoxycholic acid was associated with a reduction in stillbirth in combination with preterm birth, providing evidence for the clinical benefit of antenatal ursodeoxycholic acid treatment.Caroline Ovadia, Jenna Sajous, Paul T Seed, Kajol Patel, Nicholas J Williamson, George Attilakos, Francesco Azzaroli, Yannick Bacq, Linoy Batsry, Kelsey Broom, Romana Brun-Furrer, Laura Bull, Jenny Chambers, Yue Cui, Min Ding, Peter H Dixon, Maria C Estiú, Fergus W Gardiner, Victoria Geenes, Monika Grymowicz, Berrin Günaydin, William M Hague, Christian Haslinger, Yayi Hu, Ugo Indraccolo, Alexander Juusela, Stefan C Kane, Ayse Kebapcilar, Levent Kebapcilar, Katherine Kohari, Jūratė Kondrackienė, Maria P H Koster, Richard H Lee, Xiaohua Liu, Anna Locatelli, Rocio I R Macias, Riza Madazli, Agata Majewska, Kasia Maksym, Jessica A Marathe, Adam Morton, Martijn A Oudijk, Deniz Öztekin, Michael J Peek, Andrew H Shennan, Rachel M Tribe, Valeria Tripodi, Naciye Türk Özterlemez, Tharni Vasavan, L F Audris Wong, Yoav Yinon, Qianwen Zhang, Keren Zloto, Hanns-Ulrich Marschall, Jim Thornton, Lucy C Chappell, Catherine Williamso

A comprehensive analysis of common genetic variation around six candidate loci for intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy.

OBJECTIVES: Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) has a complex etiology with a significant genetic component. Heterozygous mutations of canalicular transporters occur in a subset of ICP cases and a population susceptibility allele (p.444A) has been identified in ABCB11. We sought to expand our knowledge of the detailed genetic contribution to ICP by investigation of common variation around candidate loci with biological plausibility for a role in ICP (ABCB4, ABCB11, ABCC2, ATP8B1, NR1H4, and FGF19). METHODS: ICP patients (n=563) of white western European origin and controls (n=642) were analyzed in a case-control design. Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers (n=83) were selected from the HapMap data set (Tagger, Haploview 4.1 (build 22)). Genotyping was performed by allelic discrimination assay on a robotic platform. Following quality control, SNP data were analyzed by Armitage's trend test. RESULTS: Cochran-Armitage trend testing identified six SNPs in ABCB11 together with six SNPs in ABCB4 that showed significant evidence of association. The minimum Bonferroni corrected P value for trend testing ABCB11 was 5.81×10(-4) (rs3815676) and for ABCB4 it was 4.6×10(-7)(rs2109505). Conditional analysis of the two clusters of association signals suggested a single signal in ABCB4 but evidence for two independent signals in ABCB11. To confirm these findings, a second study was performed in a further 227 cases, which confirmed and strengthened the original findings. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis of a large cohort of ICP cases has identified a key role for common variation around the ABCB4 and ABCB11 loci, identified the core associations, and expanded our knowledge of ICP susceptibility

Fetal cardiac dysfunction in intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy is associated with elevated serum bile acid concentrations

BackgroundIntrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is associated with increased stillbirth risk. This study aimed to assess the relationship between bile acid concentrations and fetal cardiac dysfunction in ICP with or without ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) treatment.MethodsBile acid profiles and NT-proBNP, a marker of ventricular dysfunction, were assayed in umbilical venous serum from 15 controls and 76 ICP cases (36 untreated, 40 UDCA-treated). Fetal ECG traces were obtained from 43 controls and 48 ICP cases (26 untreated, 22 UDCA-treated). PR interval length and heart rate variability parameters (RMSSD, SDNN) were measured in two behavioural states (quiet and active sleep). Partial correlation coefficients (r) and median [IQR] are reported.ResultsIn untreated ICP, fetal total serum bile acids (TSBA, r=0.49, p=0.019), their hydrophobicity index (r=0.20, p=0.039), glycocholate (r=0.56, p=0.007) and taurocholate (r=0.44, p=0.039) positively correlated with fetal NT-proBNP. Maternal TSBA (r=0.40, p=0.026) and alanine aminotransferase (r=0.40, p=0.046) also positively correlated with fetal NT-proBNP. No significant correlations to NT-proBNP were observed in the UDCA-treated cohort. Fetal PR interval length positively correlated with maternal TSBA in untreated (r=0.46, p=0.027) and UDCA-treated ICP (r=0.54, p=0.026). Fetal RMSSD in active sleep (9.6 [8.8,11.3] vs. 8.7 [7.6,9.6] ms, p=0.028) and SDNN in quiet sleep (11.0 [9.5,14.9] vs. 7.9 [5.1,9.7] ms, p=0.013) and active sleep (25.4 [21.0,32.4] vs. 18.2 [14.7,25.7] ms, p=0.003) were significantly higher in untreated ICP cases than controls. Heart rate variability values in UDCA-treated cases did not differ to controls.ConclusionsElevated fetal and maternal serum bile acid concentrations in untreated ICP are associated with an abnormal fetal cardiac phenotype characterised by increased NT-proBNP concentration, PR interval length and heart rate variability. UDCA treatment partially attenuates this phenotype

Association of adverse perinatal outcomes of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy with biochemical markers

__Background__ Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes, but the association with the concentration of specific biochemical markers is unclear. We aimed to quantify the adverse perinatal effects of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy in women with increased serum bile acid concentrations and determine whether elevated bile acid concentrations were associated with the risk of stillbirth and preterm birth. __Methods__ We did a systematic review by searching PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases for studies published from database inception to June 1, 2018, reporting perinatal outcomes for women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy when serum bile acid concentrations were available. Inclusion criteria were studies defining intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy based upon pruritus and elevated serum bile acid concentrations, with or without raised liver aminotransferase concentrations. Eligible studies were case-control, cohort, and populationbased studies, and randomised controlled trials, with at least 30 participants, and that reported bile acid concentrations and perinatal outcomes. Studies at potential higher risk of reporter bias were excluded, including case reports, studies not comprising cohorts, or successive cases seen in a unit; we also excluded studies with high risk of bias from groups selected (eg, a subgroup of babies with poor outcomes were explicitly excluded), conference abstracts, and Letters to the Editor without clear peer review. We also included unpublished data from two UK hospitals. We did a random effects meta-analysis to determine risk of adverse perinatal outcomes. Aggregate data for maternal and perinatal outcomes were extracted from case-control studies, and individual patient data (IPD) were requested from study authors for all types of study (as no control group was required for the IPD analysis) to assess associations between biochemical markers and adverse outcomes using logistic and stepwise logistic regression. This study is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42017069134. __Findings__ We assessed 109 full-text articles, of which 23 studies were eligible for the aggregate data meta-analysis (5557 intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy cases and 165136 controls), and 27 provided IPD (5269 intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy cases). Stillbirth occurred in 45 (0·91%) of 4936 intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy cases and 519 (0·32%) of 163947 control pregnancies (odds ratio [OR] 1·46 [95% CI 0·73–2·89]

An international network (PlaNet) to evaluate a human placental testing platform for chemicals safety testing in pregnancy

tThe human placenta is a critical life-support system that nourishes and protects a rapidly growing fetus; aunique organ, species specific in structure and function. We consider the pressing challenge of providingadditional advice on the safety of prescription medicines and environmental exposures in pregnancy andhow ex vivo and in vitro human placental models might be advanced to reproducible human placentaltest systems (HPTSs), refining a weight of evidence to the guidance given around compound risk assess-ment during pregnancy. The placental pharmacokinetics of xenobiotic transfer, dysregulated placentalfunction in pregnancy-related pathologies and influx/efflux transporter polymorphisms are a few caveatsthat could be addressed by HPTSs, not the specific focus of current mammalian reproductive toxicologysystems. An international consortium, “PlaNet”, will bridge academia, industry and regulators to con-sider screen ability and standardisation issues surrounding these models, with proven reproducibilityfor introduction into industrial and clinical practice

Placental bile acid homeostasis in norma and pathological pregnancy

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