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Circulatory soluble endoglin and its predictive value for preeclampsia in second-trimester pregnancies with abnormal
Holger Stepan1, Annegret Geipel, Friederike Schwarz
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Leipzig Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany. holger.stepan@medizin.uni-leipzig.de
Objective:
Soluble endoglin (sEng) is increased dramatically in preeclampsia and acts synergistically with soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt1) to promote the preeclamptic phenotype. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the sEng increase was present already in second-trimester pregnancies with abnormal uterine perfusion and whether the pregnancy was at risk for preeclampsia.
Study Design:
This prospective study includes 77 second-trimester pregnant women with abnormal uterine perfusion. sEng and sFlt1 were measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results:
Adverse pregnancy outcome was associated with higher sEng levels in the second trimester. SEng was highest in those pregnancies with early-onset preeclampsia. Combined analysis of sEng and sFlt1 is able to predict early-onset preeclampsia with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 93.3%.
Conclusion:
Elevated sEng levels are detectable in second-trimester pregnancies with abnormal uterine perfusion and subsequent pregnancy complications. The concurrent measurement of uterine perfusion and angiogenic factors allows a highly efficient prediction of early-onset preeclampsia.
