Hyperhomocysteinemia is A risk marker for development of maternal pre-eclampsia

The objective of the current study was to determine whether homocysteine elevations precede the development of pre-eclampsia, and to examine the relationship between the occurrence of pre-eclampsia and the degree of hyperhomocysteinemia, so as to find a new prognostic parameter for women with liable to develop pre-eclampsia. The study comprised 103 pregnant females chosen of those attending the Antenatal Care Unit at Benha University Hospital and accepted to donate blood samples at the 16th week of gestation. Women, who delivered at Benha University Hospital, were retrospectively allocated into two groups: Control group (Group C): comprised 64 (71.1%) parturient, who completed their full term pregnancy without the development of pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia group (Group PEc): comprised 26 (28.9%) parturient who developed pre-eclampsia throughout their course of pregnancy but had completed their full term pregnancy. Through the present study, estimated fasting plasma tHcys levels were higher than the 90th percentile of the control group (> or = 5.1 ng/dl) in 6 (9.4%) women in group C and in 9 (34.6%) in group PEc. There was a significant (P<0.05) increase of fasting plasma tHcys levels in nullipara pre-eclamptic parturient as compared to multiparous control parturient. Also, a negative significant correlation was reported between parity and the fasting plasma tHcys level in pre-eclamptic parturient. The present results showed a significant increase of fasting plasma tHcys level in obese women with a positive significant correlation between fasting plasma tHcys level and BMI in PEc group. Thus, it can be concluded that hyperhomocysteinemia is an indirect risk factor for placental vasculopathy predating clinical pre-eclampsia, and can be used as a biomarker for identifying women at risk of complications and adverse pregnancy outcomes.