title: Hyperresistinemia - a novel feature in systemic infection during human pregnancy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Resistin, originally described as an adipokine, has emerged as a potent pro-inflammatory protein associated with both acute and chronic inflammation. Moreover, resistin has been proposed as a powerful marker of sepsis severity, as well as a predictor of survival of critically ill non-pregnant patients. The aim of this study was to determine whether pyelonephritis during pregnancy is associated with changes in maternal plasma resistin concentrations.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study included the following groups: (i) normal pregnant women (n = 85) and (ii) pregnant women with pyelonephritis (n = 40). Maternal plasma resistin concentrations were determined by ELISA. Non-parametric statistics was used for analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  (i) The median maternal plasma resistin concentration was higher in patients with pyelonephritis than in those with a normal pregnancy (P < 0.001); (ii) among patients with pyelonephritis, the median maternal resistin concentration did not differ significantly between those with and without a positive blood culture (P = 0.3); (iii) among patients with pyelonephritis who were diagnosed with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), those who fulfilled > or =3 criteria for SIRS had a significantly higher median maternal plasma resistin concentration than those who met only two criteria; and (iv) maternal WBC count positively correlated with circulating resistin concentration (r = 0.47, P = 0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hyperresistinemia is a feature of acute pyelonephritis during pregnancy. The results of this study support the role of resistin as an acute-phase protein in the presence of bacterial infection during pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Perinatology Research Branch, Intramural Division, NICHD/NIH/DHHS, Hutzel Women's Hospital, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Shali
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mazaki-Tovi
authors.forename: Edi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vaisbuch
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.forename: Juan Pedro
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Kusanovic
authors.forename: Tinnakorn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chaiworapongsa
authors.forename: Sun Kwon
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ogge
authors.forename: Bo Hyun
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Zhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Juan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Gervasi
authors.forename: Sonia S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Hassan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D011704:Pyelonephritis / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D055815:Young Adult