miR-141 contributes to fetal growth restriction by regulating PLAG1 expression.

Background Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is an important but poorly understood condition of pregnancy, which results in significant fetal, neonatal and long-term morbidity and mortality. Novel research has suggested that altered miRNA expression in the plasma and placenta is associated with adverse pregnancy. We hypothesized that aberrant expression of microRNA-141 (miR-141) in the placenta is associated with FGR. Additionally, expression levels of predicted target genes of miR-141 were also analyzed in placental tissues of FGR and normal controls.