title: Antepartum and postpartum thrombomodulin levels in preeclamptic and normotensive pregnancies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether changes in plasma levels of thrombomodulin from antepartum to postpartum reflect the postpartum regression of preeclampsia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four preeclamptic women and 34 healthy, normotensive women with singleton pregnancies were studied in the third trimester. Plasma levels of thrombomodulin in the antepartum and postpartum periods were measured by a two-site immunoenzymatic assay. Two-tailed Student t test and paired-comparison t test were used for statistical analyses. The results were expressed as mean +/- standard error.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Antepartum plasma thrombomodulin levels in preeclampsia were significantly higher than postpartum levels (71.3 +/- 8.5 versus 55.5 +/- 5.4 ng/mL; P = .006), which was not seen in the normotensive controls (49.9 +/- 3.1 versus 44.2 +/- 3.8 ng/mL; P > .05). Antepartum plasma levels of thrombomodulin in preeclamptic women were significantly higher than those in the normotensive controls (P = .01). However, postpartum plasma levels of thrombomodulin in preeclamptic women were not significantly higher than those in the normotensive controls (P > .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Significantly decreased postpartum plasma thrombomodulin levels in preeclamptic pregnancies strongly correspond to clinical postpartum regression of preeclampsia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8063, USA.
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Copel
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000097:blood*; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000097:blood*; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D012016:Reference Values; D018180:Thrombomodulin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018180:Thrombomodulin