VEGFR-1, Bcl-2, and HO-1 Ratios in Pregnant Women With Hypertension

Preeclampsia (PE) is a multisystem disease resulting in high maternal-fetal morbidity and mortality. The aim of the study was to investigate antiangiogenesis-associated alterations in antiapoptotic and antioxidative proteins in PE.

Of the 46 patients with PE, 25 (54.3%) were with gestational hypertension (GH), 12 (26%) were with mild, and 9 (19.5%) were with severe PE. The serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR-1), heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1), and B-cell lymphoma/leukemia (Bcl-2) levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

In the severe PE group, the VEGFR-1 serum levels (27.3 ± 16.8 vs 13.3 ± 10.7 ng/mL, P = .023) were higher, but the Bcl-2 levels (1.5 ± 0.2 vs 2.1 ± 1.7 ng/mL, P = .047) were lower than the levels in the GH-mild PE group (P = .047). Also, VEGFR-1/Bcl-2 ratio in the severe PE group was significantly higher (P = .003) than the ratio in the GH-mild PE group.

The Bcl-2 and HO-1 proteins seem to have important roles in the antiangiogenic environment of preeclampsia.