title: Relationship between urinary albumin and serum soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) in normal pregnancy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate if the circulating level of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) correlates with urinary albumin excretion in normal pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum specimens and 24h urine collections were requested from normal pregnant women at 28-30 weeks of gestation and the following laboratory tests were performed: serum creatinine, urinary protein, urinary albumin and creatinine clearance. For the present study, 117 normal pregnant women were selected as subjects. Subjects' serum was tested to determine sFlt-1 and VEGF concentrations by ELISA. The correlation between sFlt-1 or VEGF concentrations in the serum and renal laboratory variables were analyzed. Simple regression was used to evaluate the correlations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A significant association was noted between serum sFlt-1 concentration and urinary albumin excretion (r=0.68; P<.0001). Similarly, a significant association was noted between serum VEGF concentration and urinary albumin excretion (r=-0.39; P<.0001). Other urinary variables showed no correlations with either sFlt-1 or VEGF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Even in normal pregnancy, albumin excretion is affected by an increase in placentally derived sFlt-1. If the sFlt-1 level is kept within normal range, only glomerular endothelial cells are affected and this phenomenon does not spread to the endothelial cells of a whole body.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University, 1-1 Idaigaoka, Hasama, Oita 8790053, Japan. JUNY@med.oita-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yoshimatsu
authors.forename: Harunobu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Kiyomi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shimano
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Narahara
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Miyakawa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000419:Albuminuria; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000378:metabolism; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000097:blood* / Q000502:physiology; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 / Q000097:blood* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; C501162:FLT1 protein, human; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1