Correlations between complement system's activation factors and anti-angiogenesis factors in plasma of patients with early/late-onset severe preeclampsia.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the expression of complement system's activation factors in plasma of patients with severe preeclampsia and their correlations with anti-angiogenesis factors.


METHODS
A case-control study was performed. The study group consisted of 30 cases of early-onset severe preeclampsia (EOSPE) and 30 cases of late-onset severe preeclampsia (LOSPE). Thirty cases were selected as the early-onset control group (E-control) and 30 as the late-onset control group (L-control), with the weeks of gestation matched. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to test C3a, C5a, MAC, sEng, and sflt-1 in the maternal peripheral circulation.


RESULTS
The complement system's activation factors C3a, C5a, and MAC were increased significantly in EOSPE and LOSPE (all P < 0.01) compared with E/L-control. Plasma levels of C3a correlated inversely with plasma sEng (r = -0.454, P < 0.001) and sflt-1 (r = -0.326, P = 0.011) in preeclampsia patients, while MAC correlated with soluble endoglin (sEng; r = 0.343, P = 0.007) and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sflt-1; r = 0.318, P = 0.013). There were no significant correlations between complement system's activation-related factors and the anti-angiogenesis factors in healthy control group.


CONCLUSIONS
Abnormal activation of the complement system exists in the maternal circulation of patients with E/L-onset severe preeclampsia. There were correlations between the abnormal activation of the complement system and the abnormal expression of anti-angiogenesis factors in patients with severe preeclampsia, but the correlation was not strong.
a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Peking University First Hospital , Beijing , P.R. China.
Yingdong
Y
He
a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Peking University First Hospital , Beijing , P.R. China.
Bingning
B
Xu
b Renal Division, Department of Medicine , Peking University First Hospital , Beijing , P.R. China.|c Peking University Institute of Nephrology , Beijing , P.R. China.|d Key Laboratory of Renal Disease, Ministry of Health of China , Beijing , P.R. China.|e Key Laboratory of Chronic Kidney Disease Prevention and Treatment , Ministry of Education of China , Beijing , P.R. China.
Di
D
Song
b Renal Division, Department of Medicine , Peking University First Hospital , Beijing , P.R. China.|c Peking University Institute of Nephrology , Beijing , P.R. China.|d Key Laboratory of Renal Disease, Ministry of Health of China , Beijing , P.R. China.|e Key Laboratory of Chronic Kidney Disease Prevention and Treatment , Ministry of Education of China , Beijing , P.R. China.
Feng
F
Yu
a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Peking University First Hospital , Beijing , P.R. China.
Qian
Q
Chen
b Renal Division, Department of Medicine , Peking University First Hospital , Beijing , P.R. China.|c Peking University Institute of Nephrology , Beijing , P.R. China.|d Key Laboratory of Renal Disease, Ministry of Health of China , Beijing , P.R. China.|e Key Laboratory of Chronic Kidney Disease Prevention and Treatment , Ministry of Education of China , Beijing , P.R. China.|f Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences , Beijing , P.R. China.
Minghui
M
Zhao
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015926:Complement C3a / Q000032:analysis*; D015936:Complement C5a / Q000032:analysis*; D015938:Complement Membrane Attack Complex / Q000032:analysis*; D000071063:Endoglin / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 / Q000097:blood*
D015938:Complement Membrane Attack Complex; C064206:ENG protein, human; D000071063:Endoglin; D015926:Complement C3a; D015936:Complement C5a; C501162:FLT1 protein, human; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1
Anti-angiogenesis factors; complement system’s activation factors; preeclampsia