Elevated Plasma Homocysteine Concentrations in Severe Preeclampsia and Eclampsia

Abstract

INGEC, M., BOREKCI, B. and KADANALI, S. Elevated Plasma Homocysteine Concentrations in Severe Preeclampsia and Eclampsia. Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2005, 206 (3), 225-231 Homocysteine is an essential amino acid required for the growth of cells and tissues in the human body. Maternal hyperhomocysteinemia is associated with a number of placenta-mediated diseases such as preeclampsia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the plasma level of homocysteine and its association with severity of preeclampsia. A case-control study was performed with 32 mild preeclamptic patients, 25 severe preeclamptic patients, 16 eclamptic patients and 34 controls. Maternal plasma homocysteine concentration was measured prospectively at antenatal period by high-performance liquid chromatography. There were no significant differences in demographic characteristics between the study and control groups. Mean plasma levels of homocysteine in women with severe preeclampsia (16.7 ± 10.1 μ mol/l, mean ± S.D., n = 25) and eclampsia (16.5 ± 9.6 μ mol/l, mean ± S.D., n = 16) were significantly higher than those in mild preeclampsia (7.7 ± 2.4 μ mol/l, mean ± S.D., n = 32) and controls (6.7 ± 1.6 μ mol/l, mean ± S.D., n = 34) (p < 0.0001). It should be noted that plasma levels of homocysteine are not significantly different between mild preeclampsia and controls. In conclusion, plasma homocysteine concentrations are increased in severe preeclampsia and eclampsia, but not in mild preeclampsia.

Serum Uric Acid and Homocysteine as Predictors of Pre-eclampsia

“…Besides the increased uric acid level in our cases a positive correlation is observed between serum uric acid and homocysteine (Table 11). This supports the finding of Ingec et al [17].…”

Circulating levels of homocysteine in preeclamptic women

“…Severe preeclampsia was defined as blood pressure equal to or higher than 160/110 mmHg. Exclusion criteria were smoking, multiple gestation, diabetes mellitus, chronic hypertension, heart failure, renal disease, inflammatory or infective disorders, infectious disease, and treatment with antifolate drugs 4 . All of the samples were being supplemented with vitamins B and folate during pregnancy.…”

“…Homocysteine, a sulfur containing amino acid, is involved in processes such as lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress 1,4 . Hyperhomocysteinemia is a risk factor for endothelial dysfunction and vascular disease such as atherosclerosis 4 .…”

“…Hyperhomocysteinemia is a risk factor for endothelial dysfunction and vascular disease such as atherosclerosis 4 . It has been hypothesized that maternal hyperhomocysteinemia to be associated with a number of placentamediated diseases such as preeclampsia [4][5][6] .…”

“…Large bodies of studies report hyperhomocysteinemia in preeclamptic women compared with normal pregnant women [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] . However, some studies have shown that there is no difference in circulating concentrations of homocysteine between mild preeclampsia and healthy pregnant women 4,11 , and between mild and severe preeclampsia 4,14 . Therefore, a crosssectional study was designed to examine maternal serum levels of homocysteine in preeclamptic women and its association with the severity of preeclamsia.…”