Serum MOTS-c levels remain unchanged in patients with preeclampsia

Mitochondrial open-reading-frame of the twelve S rRNA-c (MOTS-c) is a mitochondrial derived peptide which has beneficial effects on muscle metabolism, insulin sensitivity, weight regulation, and bone mineral density. This study aims to investigate whether serum levels of MOTS-c are altered in patients with preeclampsia.

This is cross sectional a case-control study of 30 patients with uncomplicated pregnancy, 30 patients with mild preeclampsia and 30 patients with severe preeclampsia that were admitted to the study center between June 2020 and January 2021.

When compared to the healthy controls and patients with mild preeclampsia, maternal smoking was significantly more frequent, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly higher and platelet count was significantly lower in patients with severe preeclampsia (p = 0.045, p = 0.0001, p = 0.0001 and p = 0.024 respectively). Serum MOTS-c concentrations were statistically similar in healthy controls, mild and severe preeclampsia patients (159.1 ± 28.7 ng/mL vs 129.6 ± 54.7 ng/mL vs 146.4 ± 48.3, p = 0.166). When compared to the healthy controls, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly higher and platelet count was significantly lower in patients with late onset preeclampsia (p = 0.0001, p = 0.0001 and p = 0.022 respectively). Healthy controls and patients with early and late onset preeclampsia were statistically similar with respect to MOTS-c levels (159.1 ± 28.7 ng/mL vs 126.7 ± 56.9 vs 153.7 ± 39.8, p = 0.102).

This study failed to detect any significant relationship between MOTS-c and preeclampsia. Large scale research is needed to clarify if MOTS-c is a novel biomarker for preeclampsia and therapeutic target for preeclampsia patients.