Inflammatory markers in preeclamptic patients

Background: Preeclampsia is characterized by hypertension and proteinuria that begins in the second half of pregnancy. Endothelial dysfunction and trophoblastic hypoperfusion seen in preeclampsia suggested to be part of an increased maternal inflammatory response to pregnancy. In this study, we aimed to evaluate some inflammatory markers in pre-eclamptic and normotensive pregnants. Methods: The study included 36 cases with mild preeclamp-sia, 36 cases with severe preeclampsia and 33 cases of normotensive pregnant. High sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, serum procalcitonin was measured by enzyme-linked fluorescent immunassay. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) was used as an indicator of the severity of the disease. Results: In severe preeclampsia group hsCRP, serum amyloid A and procalcitonin levels were significantly higher than mild preeclamptic and normotensive groups. SAA and hsCRP levels were higher in mild preeclamptic group when compared with normotensive pregnant but no significant difference was found in procalcitonin between these groups. There were significant correlations betweeen hsCRP, SAA, procalcitonin and MAP. Conclusions: The results confirm that inflammatory reactions are closely associated with preeclampsia. © 2011 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston