title: Angiopoietin-1 and angiopoietin-2 as serum biomarkers for ectopic pregnancy and missed abortion: a case-control study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A case-control study to evaluate whether a single serum measurement of angiopoietin-1 (ANG-1) and angiopoietin-2 (ANG-2) at 6-8 weeks gestation can differentiate failed pregnancies, whether ectopic pregnancies (EP) or missed abortions (MA), from healthy intrauterine pregnancies (IUP).
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum and tissue mRNA determination of ANG-1 and ANG-2 levels by ELISA and RTPCR, from 60 (30 EP and 30 MA) patients with failed early pregnancy and 33 IUPs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ANG-1 and ANG-2 concentrations and their ratio are lower in EP (median, 689 and 302 pg/ml, respectively) and MA cases (median, 810 and 402 pg/ml, respectively) compared to IUP (median, 963 and 1477 pg/ml, respectively) (p<0.05, for all). Unlike ANG-2, serum ANG-1 discriminates an EP from a MA (p=0.011). Trophoblastic ANG-1 mRNA expression levels are lower in EP compared to MA and IUP (p<0.05), while ANG-2 mRNA is higher in EP and MA than in IUP (p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A single measurement of serum ANG-1 and ANG-2 at 6-8 weeks of gestation designate the outcome of a pregnancy, as their levels are significantly decreased in failed than normal pregnancies. Serum ANG-1 showed potential to discriminate MA from EP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Thessaly Medical School, Larissa, Greece. dapontea@otenet.gr
authors.forename: Alexandros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Daponte
authors.forename: Efthimios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Deligeoroglou
authors.forename: Spyros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pournaras
authors.forename: Aspasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsezou
authors.forename: Antonios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garas
authors.forename: Foteini
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Anastasiadou
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hadjichristodoulou
authors.forename: Ioannis E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Messinis
mesh_terms: D000030:Abortion, Missed / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics; D000328:Adult; D042683:Angiopoietin-1 / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D042702:Angiopoietin-2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D011271:Pregnancy, Ectopic / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D042683:Angiopoietin-1; D042702:Angiopoietin-2; D015415:Biomarkers; D012333:RNA, Messenger