title: First-trimester levels of pregnancy-associated plasma protein A2 (PAPP-A2) in the maternal circulation are elevated in pregnancies that subsequently develop preeclampsia.
abstract: Recent studies have consistently found pregnancy-associated plasma protein A2 (PAPP-A2) to be upregulated in preeclamptic placentae at term. We tested whether first-trimester circulating PAPP-A2 levels differed between complicated and uncomplicated pregnancies. We measured maternal PAPP-A2 levels at 10 to 14 weeks of gestational age in 17 pregnancies resulting in small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants, 6 which developed preeclampsia (PE), 1 which developed PE and resulted in an SGA infant, and 37 gestational age-matched controls. The concentration of the PAPP-A2 isoform corresponding to the full-length protein was significantly higher in pregnancies that developed PE (35 ng/mL) compared with those that did not (23 ng/mL; P < .044). In contrast, we found no difference in PAPP-A2 levels between pregnancies that did or did not result in an SGA infant. The upregulation of PAPP-A2 that has previously been observed in PE at term appears to begin early in pregnancy, well before the symptoms develop.
authors: 1Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
authors: Erin J
authors: EJ
authors: Crosley
authors: Ursula
authors: U
authors: Durland
authors: Ken
authors: K
authors: Seethram
authors: Scott
authors: S
authors: MacRae
authors: Andrée
authors: A
authors: Gruslin
authors: Julian K
authors: JK
authors: Christians
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021041:Placental Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First / Q000097:blood*; D011266:Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C430889:PAPPA2 protein, human; D011266:Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A
keywords: PAPP-A2; preeclampsia; small-for-gestational-age