Soluble endoglin in preeclamptic patients with or without HELLP syndrome.
OBJECTIVE
The pathogenesis of the HELLP (hemolysis, enzyme liver, low platelets) syndrome is unknown. Recently soluble endoglin (sEng) was identified as a cause of the appearance of schistocytes and liver pathology in an animal model of preeclampsia (PE).


METHODS
We explored the value of sEng in 82 women who delivered in a context of normal pregnancy (NP, n = 10), PE (n = 49), or HELLP (n = 23).


RESULTS
sEng was elevated in pathological pregnancies (66.7 +/- 62 and 75.7 +/- 48 pg/mL in PE and HELLP, respectively, vs 5.29 +/- 1.25 in NP, P < .001 for both comparisons) and was correlated with an increase in transaminases (r(2) = 0.17; P = .05), but it was not statistically different between PE and HELLP.


CONCLUSIONS
Although recent literature findings demonstrated a role of sEng in the pathophysiology of HELLP syndrome in animal models, we found that, at the time of delivery, sEng was not specifically elevated in preeclamptic patients with HELLP.
Hertig
Alexandre
A
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Hôpital Tenon, Paris, France. alexandre.hertig@tnn.aphp.fr
Fort
Julie
J
Lefevre
Guillaume
G
Chabbert-Buffet
Nathalie
N
Uzan
Martine
M
Rondeau
Eric
E
Rozenberg
Patrick
P
D000328:Adult; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000097:blood*; D000071063:Endoglin; D005260:Female; D017359:HELLP Syndrome / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000097:blood*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 / Q000097:blood
D015703:Antigens, CD; C064206:ENG protein, human; D000071063:Endoglin; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1