Circulatory soluble endoglin and its predictive value for preeclampsia in second-trimester pregnancies with abnormal uterine perfusion

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2007.08.052
• Publication Date: 2008-01-28T12:09:12Z
• Authors: Holger Stepan; Annegret Geipel; Friederike Schwarz; Thomas Krämer; Niels Wessel; Renaldo Faber
• Keywords: Adult; Adolescent; Endoglin; Pregnancy Outcome; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Arteries; Cohort Studies; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Pre-Eclampsia; ROC Curve; Antigens, CD; Predictive Value of Tests; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Trimester, Second; Prenatal Diagnosis; Pulsatile Flow; Laser-Doppler Flowmetry; Humans; Female; Prospective Studies; Biomarkers

Soluble endoglin (sEng) is increased dramatically in preeclampsia and acts synergistically with soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt1) to promote the preeclamptic phenotype. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the sEng increase was present already in second-trimester pregnancies with abnormal uterine perfusion and whether the pregnancy was at risk for preeclampsia.This prospective study includes 77 second-trimester pregnant women with abnormal uterine perfusion. sEng and sFlt1 were measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Adverse pregnancy outcome was associated with higher sEng levels in the second trimester. SEng was highest in those pregnancies with early-onset preeclampsia. Combined analysis of sEng and sFlt1 is able to predict early-onset preeclampsia with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 93.3%.Elevated sEng levels are detectable in second-trimester pregnancies with abnormal uterine perfusion and subsequent pregnancy complications. The concurrent measurement of uterine perfusion and angiogenic factors allows a highly efficient prediction of early-onset preeclampsia.