Growth factor activity in the blood of women in whom preeclampsia develops is elevated from early pregnancy

Article Abstract:

Preeclampsia is a common disorder in pregnant women and features blood vessel spasm, edema (fluid accumulation), protein in urine, defects in clotting, and kidney and liver dysfunction. The disorder is puzzling, as the cause is unknown, but many of the problems might be explained by damage to and generalized dysfunction of the endothelium, smooth cells that line blood vessels. Studies in which blood from women with preeclampsia has been shown to injure laboratory-grown endothelial cells suggest that the blood contains a factor mediating the endothelial damage. Other studies suggest that a circulating growth factor (any of a group of proteins which can stimulate cell growth) may be associated with the damage. To determine whether a growth factor is a cause of or an effect of endothelial damage in women with preeclampsia, blood studies in six women with preeclampsia and six healthy pregnant women were conducted. Blood samples were available from the first trimester. As expected, women with preeclampsia had higher blood pressure and higher levels of uric acid in blood and protein in urine, and they tended to be younger and deliver lower-birth-weight infants. Blood pressures differed significantly among the two groups by the second trimester, but this was not diagnostically significant until the third trimester. Proteinuria was only noted in the third trimester. Growth factor levels were highest during the first two trimesters in women who eventually developed preeclampsia. Growth factor levels were similar between groups by six weeks postpartum. The results suggest that elevated growth factor levels precede development of preeclampsia symptoms by months, equivalent to the time frame when the most important disease changes involving placental and implantation occur. The study suggests that release of growth factor by damaged endothelial cells is an early sign of preeclampsia. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Measurement, Growth factors

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Biochemical evidence of impaired trophoblastic invasion of decidual stroma in women destined to have preeclampsia

Article Abstract:

It may be possible to develop a blood test for identifying pregnant women at risk for preeclampsia. During pregnancy, researchers measured the concentration of two chemical markers for two different cell types that make up the uterine lining in 10 healthy and 10 preeclamptic women. Healthy women experienced a marked rise in the concentration of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 during the second trimester whereas women who subsequently developed preeclampsia did not. There was too much overlap in values between groups to usefully discriminate between them, but this could, perhaps, be improved.

Diagnosis, Blood, Blood chemical analysis

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Androgens in preeclampsia

Article Abstract:

Elevated blood levels of male sex hormones may predispose women to preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a complication of pregnancy characterized by hypertension and abnormal blood clotting. Researchers measured male sex hormones in blood samples of 26 health pregnant women and 16 pregnant with preeclampsia. All women have small levels of male sex hormones, most of which are produced by the adrenal glands. The women with preeclampsia had higher levels of male sex hormones than the healthy pregnant women.

Health aspects, Androgens

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