Calprotectin plasma level is elevated in preeclampsia.
BACKGROUND
Calprotectin is a protein found in myelomonocytic cells and plays a role in various physiological functions such as inflammatory processes and antiproliferation of cells, and in the neutrophil defense against bacterial infections. Preeclampsia is characterized by maternal endothelial dysfunction and by insufficient trophoblast invasion into the maternal endometrium (decidua). In addition, preeclampsia is associated with maternal leukocyte activation and we therefore wanted to investigate whether calprotectin levels in plasma from women with preeclampsia differed from the levels in normotensive pregnant and nonpregnant women.


METHODS
Calprotectin measurements were included in a case-control study of 20 preeclamptic women matched with 20 normotensive pregnant women regarding age, pregnancy length, parity and body mass index (BMI). We also measured calprotectin in 12 nonpregnant women. Calprotectin plasma levels were analyzed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).


RESULTS
We discovered significantly elevated plasma calprotectin levels in preeclamptic patients compared to matched normotensive pregnancies: 768 (612-1016) microg/L vs. 445 (276-598) microg/L (medians, 25, 75 percentiles, respectively), p = 0.002.


CONCLUSIONS
The elevated plasma calprotectin levels demonstrated in the preeclampsia group supports the notion that leukocytes are activated in preeclampsia. The elevated calprotectin level might constitute a part of the innate defense in myelomonocytic cells against microorganisms in pregnancy. We suggest further elucidation of a role for calprotectin in the development of pregnancy disorders such as preeclampsia.
Holthe
Mette Ree
MR
Department of Research Forum, Ullevaal University Hospital, 0407 Oslo, Norway. m.r.holthe@ioks.uio.no
Staff
Anne Cathrine
AC
Berge
Lillian Nordboe
LN
Fagerhol
Magne Kristoffer
MK
Lyberg
Torstein
T
D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D039841:Leukocyte L1 Antigen Complex / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011336:Probability; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D015415:Biomarkers; D039841:Leukocyte L1 Antigen Complex