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Updated: Mar 31, 2026

Author Spotlight: Modeling an Aspect of Preeclampsia in Female Mice Using Hypoxic Human Placenta-Derived Small Extracellular Vesicles
Published on: January 26, 2024
The Relationship of Longitudinal Levels of Complement Bb During Pregnancy with Preeclampsia
Anne M Lynch1, Brandie D Wagner2, Patricia C Giclas3
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA.
Problem:
To determine the understudied relationship between complement Bb during pregnancy in subjects with preeclampsia compared with normotensive controls.
Method Of Study:
Nested case-control study.
Results:
Average Bb levels significantly decreased over time in pregnancy [weekly slope (S.E.): -0.0094 (0.0005), P < 0.01]. Cross-sectionally, at less than 10 weeks, Bb levels decreased with increasing gestational age in women who remained normotensive [weekly slope (S.E.): -0.007 (0.02) and for women who developed preeclampsia (weekly slope (S.E.): -0.059 (0.03) P = 0.12]. Among women who developed preeclampsia, Bb levels were greatest when samples were drawn in the gestational window of 15-20 weeks [(weekly slope (S.E.): 0.06 (0.02)], while levels among normotensive women were inversely related with gestational age [weekly slope (S.E.): -0.02 (0.01)]. The differences in slopes between cases and controls between 10 and 21 weeks' gestation were statistically significant (P = 0.003).
Conclusions:
We suggest dysregulation of Bb activation between 10 and 20 weeks' gestation in women who develop preeclampsia.
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