Soluble endoglin as a second-trimester marker for preeclampsia

• Published in: American journal of obstetrics and gynecology 2007-08, Vol.197 (2), p.174.e1-174.e5
• Main Authors: Robinson, Christopher J., MD, Johnson, Donna D., MD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Antigens, CD - blood; Biological and medical sciences; biomarker; Biomarkers; Case-Control Studies; Diseases of mother, fetus and pregnancy; Endoglin; Female; Gestational Age; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Medical sciences; Obstetrics and Gynecology; Pre-Eclampsia - blood; Pre-Eclampsia - diagnosis; preeclampsia; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Trimester, Second; Pregnancy. Fetus. Placenta; Receptors, Cell Surface - blood; second trimester; Signal Transduction; soluble endoglin; Transforming Growth Factor beta - physiology
• ISSN: 0002-9378; 1097-6868
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2007.03.058

Objective The objective of this investigation was to characterize soluble endoglin (sEng) concentrations in second-trimester serum of women who either develop preeclampsia or have a normal pregnancy. Study Design Single second-trimester serum samples obtained from healthy, nonsmoking women who subsequently developed severe preeclampsia (n = 48) or from healthy nonsmoking women who experienced a normal pregnancy (n = 56) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Data were reported as mean ± standard deviation. Results Maternal age or gestational age at time of sample was not different between the 2 groups. Patients who later developed preeclampsia delivered earlier, had smaller infants, and had a higher mean arterial pressure than controls. Patients who later developed severe preeclampsia had elevated sEng, compared with those with normal pregnancy (6.19 ± 2.1 vs 5.00 ± 1.0 ng/mL, P = .02). Conclusion Soluble endoglin is elevated in second-trimester maternal serum in patients destined to develop severe preeclampsia.