title: Serum levels of endocan correlate with the presence and severity of pre-eclampsia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Endocan, a cysteine-rich dermatan sulfate proteoglycan expressed by endothelial cells, is seemed to be a new biomarker for endothelial dysfunction. Pre-eclampsia (PE) is characterized by the new onset of hypertension, proteinuria after 20 weeks of gestation, placental vascular remodeling, systemic vascular inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of PE and its severity with serum endocan levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was performed. Serum was collected from women with PE and normotensive controls. Serum endocan and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) concentrations were measured by a specific enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with PE had significantly higher median (interquartile range) endocan and mean TNF-α concentrations than controls [20.04 (12.26) ng/mL vs 15.55 (6.19) ng/mL, p < 0.001 for endocan; 26.49 ± 12.14 pg/mL vs 14.62 ± 5.61 pg/mL, p < 0.001 for TNF-α; respectively]. Serum endocan concentrations were positively correlated with systolic blood pressure (r = 0.618, p < 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (r = 0.608, p < 0.001), the amount of 24-h proteinuria (r = 0.786, p < 0.001) and TNF-α (r = 0.474, p < 0.001) in women with PE. In subgroup analysis, patients with severe PE had significantly higher endocan concentrations than those with mild PE. Receiver operating characteristic analysis of endocan was used to identify the patients with PE and also discriminating between mild and severe PE.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum endocan concentrations were significantly elevated in women with PE versus normotensive controls, and concentrations seem to be associated with the severity of the disease.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Internal Medicine , School of Medicine, Turgut Ozal University , Ankara , Turkey .
authors.forename: Muzaffer
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cakmak
authors.affiliation: b Section of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine , Dr. A.Y. Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital , Ankara , Turkey .
authors.forename: Hakki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.affiliation: a Department of Internal Medicine , School of Medicine, Turgut Ozal University , Ankara , Turkey .
authors.forename: Esra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bağlar
authors.affiliation: c Department of Internal Medicine , Agri State Hospital , Agri , Turkey .
authors.forename: Tahir
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Darcin
authors.affiliation: d Department of Internal Medicine , Yenimahelle Training and Research Hospital , Ankara , Turkey .
authors.forename: Osman
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Inan
authors.affiliation: e Section of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine , Dr. A.Y. Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital , Ankara , Turkey .
authors.forename: Aynur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aktas
authors.affiliation: f Department of Biochemistry , School of Medicine, Turgut Ozal University , Ankara , Turkey .
authors.forename: Huseyin Tugrul
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Celik
authors.affiliation: g Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Ankara Numune Training and Education Hospital , Ankara , Turkey , and.
authors.forename: Ozhan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ozdemir
authors.affiliation: g Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Ankara Numune Training and Education Hospital , Ankara , Turkey , and.
authors.forename: Cemal Reşat
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Atalay
authors.affiliation: h Section of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine , School of Medicine, Turgut Ozal University , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akcay
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001794:Blood Pressure; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine; D011247:Pregnancy; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000097:blood; D011509:Proteoglycans / Q000097:blood*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C101134:ESM1 protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011509:Proteoglycans; C439524:TNF protein, human; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
keywords: Endocan; biomarker; pre-eclampsia; pregnancy; proteinuria