title: Maternal soluble human leukocyte antigen-G levels in pregnancies complicated by foetal intrauterine growth restriction with and without preeclampsia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to investigate the maternal serum of soluble human leukocyte antigen-G (sHLA-G) levels in pregnant women with an isolated intrauterine growth restricted foetus (IUGR) and in preeclamptic pregnancies with and without IUGR.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted on 31 normotensive patients with pregnancy complicated by IUGR, 17 preeclamptic patients with appropriate-for-gestational-age foetal intrauterine growth, 21 with preeclampsia complicated by IUGR, and 32 healthy pregnant controls. Maternal serum sHLA-G levels were calculated using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Maternal serum sHLA-G levels tended to be higher in both groups of preeclamptic patients, and were highest in patients with IUGR in the course of severe preeclampsia. Lower serum levels of sHLA-G were observed in the group of normotensive pregnant women with an intrauterine growth restricted foetus, but these differences were not statistically significant. The mean values were 22.759±14.151units/mL in the IUGR group, 25.948±18.888units/mL in preeclamptic patients with normal intrauterine foetal growth, 31.646±27.576units/mL in preeclamptic pregnant women with IUGR, and 24.178±24.828units/mL in the healthy controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that the increased levels of sHLA-G in the maternal serum may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia, especially in preeclampsia complicated by intrauterine foetal growth restriction. These associations may offer a better insight into the etiology and pathogenesis of preeclampsia with and without IUGR. It seems that sHLA-G does not play a clinically significant role in the pathogenesis of isolated intrauterine foetal growth restriction in normotensive pregnancies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Perinatology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, ul. Jaczewskiego 8, Poland. Electronic address: melaskowska@go2.pl.
authors.forename: Marzena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laskowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, 20-950 Lublin, ul. Jaczewskiego 8, Poland.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Laskowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Perinatology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, ul. Jaczewskiego 8, Poland.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oleszczuk
keywords: IUGR isolated and in the course of preeclampsia; sHLA-G