title: Complement factor B activation in patients with preeclampsia.
abstract: Preeclampsia is a leading cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Bb, the active fragment of complement factor B (fB), has been reported to be a predictor of preeclampsia. However, conflicting results have been found by some investigators. We hypothesized that the disagreement in findings may be due to the racial/ethnic differences among various study groups, and that fB activation is significant in women of an ethnic minority with preeclampsia. We investigated the maternal and fetal levels of Bb (the activated fB fragment) in pregnant women of an ethnic minority with or without preeclampsia. We enrolled 291 pregnant women (96% of an ethnic minority, including 78% African-American). Thirteen percent of these were diagnosed with preeclampsia. Maternal venous blood was collected from all participants together with fetal umbilical cord blood samples from 154 deliveries in the 291 women. The results were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test and multivariate analyses. Maternal Bb levels were significantly higher in the preeclamptic group than in the nonpreeclamptic group. Levels of Bb in fetal cord blood were similar in both groups. Subgroup analyses of African-American patients' results confirmed the study hypothesis that there would be a significant increase in Bb in the maternal blood of the preeclamptic group and no increase in Bb in the fetal cord blood of this group. These results suggest that a maternal immune response through complement fB might play a role in the development of preeclampsia, particularly in African-American patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Velickovic
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Mudar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dalloul
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Karen A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Olufunke
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bakare
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schweis
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garala
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alam
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Medranda
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Jovana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lekovic
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Waqas
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shuaib
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tedjasukmana
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Perry
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Little
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hanono
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA; Department of Anesthesiology, Lutheran Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11220, USA.
authors.forename: Ruvini
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wijetilaka
authors.affiliation: Scientific Computing Center, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weedon
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA; Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital of Brooklyn at Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA; Department of Anesthesiology, Lutheran Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11220, USA.
authors.forename: Roulhac d'Arby
authors.initials: Rd
authors.lastname: Toledano
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA; Department of Cell Biology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA. Electronic address: ming.zhang@downstate.edu.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D003167:Complement Activation / Q000276:immunology*; D011415:Complement Factor B / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D011415:Complement Factor B
keywords: Complement; Preeclampsia; Pregnancy