A prospective study of maternal serum C-reactive protein concentrations and risk of preeclampsia

• Published in: American journal of hypertension 2004-02, Vol.17 (2), p.154-160
• Main Authors: Qiu, Chunfang, Luthy, David A, Zhang, Cuilin, Walsh, Scott W, Leisenring, Wendy M, Williams, Michelle A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Arterial hypertension. Arterial hypotension; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers - blood; Blood and lymphatic vessels; Body Mass Index; C-reactive protein; C-Reactive Protein - analysis; Cardiology. Vascular system; Case-Control Studies; Female; Humans; inflammation; Logistic Models; Medical sciences; obesity; Obesity - blood; Pre-Eclampsia - blood; Pregnancy; pregnancy and preeclampsia; Pregnancy Trimester, First; Prospective Studies; Risk; Risk Factors
• ISSN: 0895-7061; 1879-1905; 1941-7225
• DOI: 10.1016/j.amjhyper.2003.09.011

We measured C-reactive protein (CRP), a clinical marker of systemic inflammation, in maternal serum collected at 13 weeks gestation on average, to determine whether elevations precede the clinical manifestation of preeclampsia. Using a prospective, nested, case-control study design we measured CRP concentrations using a competitive immunoassay in 60 women who developed preeclampsia and in 506 women who remained normotensive throughout pregnancy. Logistic regression procedures were used to calculate odds ratio (OR) and 95% CI. Because maternal serum CRP is highly correlated with maternal prepregnancy body mass index (BMI), all analyses were repeated after stratification by maternal prepregnancy overweight status (BMI