title: Maternal serum highly sensitive C-reactive protein in normal pregnancy and pre-eclampsia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To establish reference values for highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) in normal pregnancy and determine whether disease severity could be predicted by serum hsCRP concentration in women with severe pre-eclampsia (PE).
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood samples were collected from 25 pregnant women with severe PE and 202 healthy pregnant women who were divided into 4 groups by pregnancy duration. Levels of hsCRP were determined by the immunonephelometric method. Mean arterial pressure, time between delivery and diuresis, and mean ratio of systolic to diastolic blood flow velocity in uterine arteries were used as indicators of the severity of PE.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median values of hsCRP in each group were 0.76 mg/L (0.16-13.61 mg/L), 1.53 mg/L (0.39-20.31 mg/L), 2.08 mg/L (0.50-9.45 mg/L), and 2.28 mg/L (0.44-8.11 mg/L) and showed a trend toward increase. Serum levels of hsCRP were positively correlated with each severity indicator of PE.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed that hsCRP levels were positively correlated to pregnancy duration in healthy women and could be used as a severity marker in women with severe PE.
authors.affiliation: Division of Maternal and Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Y W
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Y H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012016:Reference Values; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002097:C-Reactive Protein