Plasma visfatin levels in preeclamptic and normal pregnancies

Increasing evidences support the participation of adipokines in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia (PE). Visfatin is a novel adipokine secreted by fat tissue and macrophages and is involved in the regulation of glucose homeostasis. Our aim is to investigate visfatin levels in women with PE, women with the third trimester of normal pregnancy and healthy non-pregnant women.

We included 32 preeclamptic patients who received antenatal and obstetric care at Perinatology Clinic. A total of 32 pregnant women with normal ongoing pregnancies and 32 non-pregnant women were taken as the control groups. Plasma levels of visfatin were quantified by ELISA.

Plasma levels of visfatin were 63.8 +/- 4.9 ng/ml in women with PE, 43.6 +/- 7.8 ng/ml in pregnant control and 31.6 +/- 4.2 ng/ml in the non-pregnant control, respectively (P < 0.001). Visfatin level was significantly higher in PE compared with non-pregnant control (P < 0.001) and pregnant control (P < 0.001); also, plasma level of visfatin was significantly higher in severe PE (75.3 +/- 4.6 ng/ml) than mild PE (41.8 +/- 5.2 ng/ml) (P < 0.001).

The results of the present study indicate that women with PE had significantly increased visfatin concentrations in the third trimester. Furthermore, visfatin levels were significantly higher in severe PE group.