Abstract: Objective: To detect and compare the plasma level and expression of visfatin in placental tissue of missed abortion (MA) and induced abortion of unwanted normal pregnancy for exploring the possible role of visfatin in the pathogenesis of MA. Method: A total of 36 cases of MA (5-11 gestational weeks) and 20 cases of induced abortion of unwanted normal pregnancy (5-11 gestational weeks) were collected in the International Peace Maternal and Child Health Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University between October, 2016 to April 2017. The double antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemical method (IHC) were used to detect visfatin level in plasma and expression of visfatin in placenta tissue. Result: By ELISA, the plasma level of visfatin in MA patients was (55.98±10.30) ng/mL and the plasma level of visfatin in induced abortion of unwanted normal pregnancy group was(70.19±11.70) ng/mL, the difference was statistically significant(P<0.001). By IHC, the expression of visfatin in placenta tissue was significantly lower in MA patients than in induced abortion of unwanted normal pregnancy group (P<0.001). Moreover, there was a significant correlation between the plasma level and placenta expression of visfatin (r=0.711, P<0.01). The degeneration rate of placental villus in MA group was higher than that in induced abortion of unwanted normal pregnancy group, and the low expression of visfatin was correlated with placental villus degeneration rate (r=-0684, P<0.001), and this correlation was more obvious than that between level of plasma visfatin and placental villus degeneration. Conclusions: The low expression of visfatin in plasma and placenta tissues may be involved in the pathogenesis of MA. Determining plasma visfatin level may be used as one of the indicators for monitoring the progress of pregnancy.

Key words: Visfatin, Missed abortion, Diagnosis