Urinary podocyte excretion as a marker for preeclampsia.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to examine whether podocyturia, which is the urinary excretion of viable podocytes (glomerular epithelial cells), is present in urinary sediments of patients with preeclampsia. We also aimed to compare the test characteristics of podocyturia to those angiogenic factors that have been shown to play an important role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia (s-Flt-1, PlGF, and endoglin).


METHODS
Serum angiogenic factors were measured in 44 patients with preeclampsia and 23 normotensive control patients. In a patient subset (15 cases and 16 control patients), urinary proteinuria were identified and quantified on the basis of their expressions of podocyte-specific proteins.


RESULTS
Urinary podocyte excretion occurred in all patients with preeclampsia. The positive predictive value for the diagnosis of preeclampsia was greater for podocyturia than for any of the measured angiogenic factors.


CONCLUSIONS
Podocyturia is a highly sensitive and specific marker for preeclampsia. It may contribute to the development of proteinuria in preeclampsia.
Garovic
Vesna D
VD
Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. garovic.vesna@mayo.edu
Wagner
Steven J
SJ
Turner
Stephen T
ST
Rosenthal
David W
DW
Watson
William J
WJ
Brost
Brian C
BC
Rose
Carl H
CH
Gavrilova
Larisa
L
Craigo
Paula
P
Bailey
Kent R
KR
Achenbach
Johannes
J
Schiffer
Mario
M
Grande
Joseph P
JP
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D050199:Podocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012372:ROC Curve; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D015415:Biomarkers