Objective: The aim of this study was the analysis of the umbilical cord serum sP-selectin levels in pregnancies complicated by severe preeclampsia with and without intrauterine growth restriction and in normotensive pregnancies.
Patients and methods: The study was carried out on 18 patients with singleton pregnancies complicated by severe preeclampsia with appropriate-for-gestational-age weight infants (group P) and 18 pregnant patients with severe preeclampsia complicated by intrauterine fetal growth restriction (IUGR) (group PI). The control group consisted of 34 patients with singleton uncomplicated pregnancies (group C). Umbilical serum sP-selectin concentrations were estimated using a sandwich ELISA assay according to the manufacturer's instruction (ELISA kit Bender MedSystems Vienna, Austria).
Results: Our study revealed different concentrations of soluble P-selectin in the umbilical cord in our both studied groups of preeclamptic women with and without IUGR. The umbilical cord levels of sP-selectin were decreased in the group with preeclampsia complicated by IUGR and increased in the preeclamptic women with the normal intrauterine fetal growth. The mean values of umbilical sP-selectin were 839.008 ± 625.703 ng/ml in group P, 275.873 ± 174.339 ng/ml in group PI, and 288.719 ± 199.039 ng/ml in the control group, respectively.
Conclusions: Higher levels of the umbilical sP-selectin may confirm the presence of platelet and endothelial cell activation and confirm a hypercoagulant state in preeclamptic disorder, especially in preeclampsia without IUGR.