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Preeclampsia affects about 5 percent of pregnancies, resulting in substantial maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.1,2 Although the cause remains unclear, the syndrome may be initiated by placental factors that enter the maternal circulation and cause endothelial dysfunction resulting in hypertension and proteinuria.3-6
We and others have recently shown that soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1), a circulating antiangiogenic protein, is increased in the placenta5,7 and serum5,8,9 of women with preeclampsia. This protein acts by adhering to the receptor-binding domains of placental growth factor (PlGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), preventing their interaction with endothelial receptors on the cell surface and thereby inducing endothelial dysfunction. Decreased concentrations of circulating free PlGF and free VEGF have been noted during clinical preeclampsia5 and even before its onset.10,11 We have recently demonstrated that exogenous sFlt-1 administered to pregnant rats induces hypertension, proteinuria, and glomerular endotheliosis.5 Moreover, a 50 percent reduction in VEGF production in renal podocytes in mice with podocyte-specific heterozygosity for VEGF resulted in glomerular endotheliosis and massive proteinuria.12 Hypertension and proteinuria have been reported in patients with cancer who were treated with VEGF-signaling inhibitors.13,14 Taken together, these observations suggest that excess sFlt-1 may have a pathogenic role in preeclampsia.5
In order to describe the gestational patterns of circulating sFlt-1, free PlGF, and free VEGF in normotensive and preeclamptic pregnancy, we performed a nested case–control study within the Calcium for Preeclampsia Prevention (CPEP) trial, using archived serum samples obtained before labor. Concentrations were analyzed in a cross-sectional fashion within intervals of gestational age and according to the time before the onset of preeclampsia. We hypothesized that the sFlt-1 level would be elevated before the onset of clinical disease, with reciprocal decreases in the levels of free PlGF and VEGF.
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