Maternal Plasma VEGF,
sVEGF-R1, and PlGF Concentrations in Preeclamptic and
Normotensive Pregnant Zimbabwean Women
M. MUY-RIVERA1, S. VADACHKORIA1, G.B.
WOELK2, C. QIU1,
K. MAHOMED3, M. A. WILLIAMS1,4
1Center for Perinatal Studies, Swedish Medical
Center, Seattle, Washington, USA, 2Department of
Community Medicine and 3Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology, University of Zimbabwe, School of Medicine, Harare,
Zimbabwe and 4Department of Epidemiology, University
of Washington, School of Public Health and Community Medicine,
Seattle, Washington, USA
Received November 9, 2004
Accepted December 17, 2004
On-line available February 16, 2005
Summary
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a disulphide-linked
homodimeric glycoprotein that is selectively mitogenic for
endothelial cells, plays an important role in vasculogenesis and
angiogenesis. Preeclampsia, a relatively common complication of
pregnancy that is characterized by diffuse endothelial
dysfunction possibly secondary to impaired trophoblast invasion
of the spiral arteries during implantation, has recently been
associated with alterations in maternal serum/plasma
concentrations of VEGF, and other related growth factors and
their receptors. We examined the relationship of maternal plasma
VEGF, sVEGF-R1 and PlGF levels to the risk of preeclampsia among
women delivering at Harare Maternity Hospital, Zimbabwe. 131
pregnant women with preeclampsia and 175 controls were included
in a case-control study. Maternal plasma concentrations of each
biomarker were measured using enzymatic methods. We used
logistic regression to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95 %
confidence intervals (CI). Preeclampsia risk was inversely
related with quartiles of plasma VEGF (OR: 1.0, 1.0, 0.7, and
0.5, with the lowest quartile as reference; p for trend = 0.06).
We noted a strong positive association between preeclampsia risk
and sVEGF-R1 concentrations (OR: 1.0, 6.5, 9.7, 31.6, with the
first quartile as the referent group; p for trend < 0.001).
After adjusting for confounders, we noted that women with
sVEGF-R1 concentrations in the highest quartile (≥ 496 pg/ml),
as compared with those in the lowest quartile (< 62 pg/ml) had a
31.6-fold increased risk of preeclampsia (OR = 31.6, 95 % CI
7.7-128.9). There was no clear evidence of a linear relation in
risk of preeclampsia with PlGF concentrations. In conclusion,
plasma VEGF, sVEGF-R1 and PlGF concentrations (measured at
delivery) were altered among Zimbabwean women with preeclampsia
as compared with normotensive women. Our results are consistent
with some, though not all, previous reports. Prospective studies
are needed to: 1) identify modifiable determinants of maternal
plasma concentrations VEGF, sVEGF-R1, and PlGF; and 2) evaluate
the temporal relationship between observed alterations of these
biological markers in preeclamptic pregnancies.
Key words
VEGF • sVEGF-R1 • PlGF • Preeclampsia • Pregnancy • Risk Factors
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