Genetic association of preeclampsia to von Willebrand factor and its size-regulator ADAMTS13

Preeclampsia is a common pregnancy-specific vascular disorder that develops during the second half of pregnancy. Preeclampsia shares features with thrombotic microangiopathies. Here we analyzed whether sequence variants in the coagulation system genes predispose to preeclampsia. We performed targeted exomic sequencing of 58 genes in a total of 615 preeclamptic women and 2094 controls. A common missense variant rs1800385 (Val1565Leu) in the gene coding for von Willebrand Factor (VWF) (OR=1.72, p-value=3.57E-4) and a low-frequency missense variant rs41314453 (Ala732Val) in the gene coding for a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with a thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13 (ADAMTS13) (OR=1.97, p-value=0.044) were associated with preeclampsia. rs41314453 is known to decrease ADAMTS13 expression and activity. Thus, the reduced enzyme activity could promote the formation of large vWF polymers on endothelial cells and platelets and thereby increase vascular prothrombotic activity in preeclampsia. Our results support a role for an impaired ability of ADAMTS13 to limit VWF polymerization in the pathogenesis of PE. Ultralarge multimers of VWF could mediate platelet accumulation in the turbulent intervillous spaces in preeclamptic placentae, calling upon novel therapeutics to control the VWF-ADAMTS13 axis in severe cases having low ADAMTS13 in the presence of high VWF levels and multimerization.