Maternal serum biomarkers in early diagnosis of preeclampsia

Abstract

Background: Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy specific disorder, characterized by new onset of hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks of gestation. It is one of the leading causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. The etiology of the disease process in not known. There is an urgent need for a 1st trimester marker for the prediction of preeclampsia. Recent studies have reported that this disease originate from abnormal placentation and maternal endothelial dysfunction. The intense research in this arena has unveiled some important serum biomarkers which play an important role in placentation. These markers include angiogenic and antiangiogenic molecules. However, these markers when they used alone are not effective for the prediction of preeclampsia, but in combination may help in predicting women who are likely to develop preeclampsia. This review summarizes the various maternal serum biomarkers available and utility in predicting preeclampsia. Keywords: Preeclampsia, Biomarkers, Angiogenic markers, Antiangiogenic markers, Apelin