title: Transthyretin as a novel candidate biomarker for preeclampsia.
abstract: Preeclampsia (PE) is considered to be a potentially fatal complication during pregnancy. However, no effective laboratory assessment has been developed to enable early diagnosis and monitoring of PE. The present study aimed to identify differentially expressed transthyretin (TTR) during severe PE and evaluate TTR as a possible biomarker of this disease. TTR levels were determined in the different gestational weeks of normal pregnancy (before 20 weeks, n=41; after 20 weeks, n=39) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). TTR concentrations in pregnant females with severe PE (n=43) were compared with those in healthy matched control subjects (n=37) using western blot analysis and ELISA. The median TTR concentration during severe PE in each month of gestation was significantly lower than the concentrations recorded during normal pregnancy. TTR levels in females with severe PE were significantly downregulated compared with the control subjects (P<0.001; area under the curve, 0.834-0.967). Thus, TTR may be used as a potential biomarker of PE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing 100020, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing 100020, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yuxuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing 100020, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chongdong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Haiteng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing 100020, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Nawei
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shengdian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing 100020, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhenyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: preeclampsia; serum biomarker; transthyretin