Objective: Ghrelin, an endogenous for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, has been shown to participate in blood pressure regulation. Obestatin, encoded by the same gene as ghrelin, is described as a physiological opponent of ghrelin. We hypothesized that ghrelin/obestatin imbalance played a role in the pathogenesis. This study was designed to determine the alterations of ghrelin and obestatin concentrations and ghrelin/obestatin ratio in maternal serum in preeclampsia.
Method: This retrospective case-control study included 31 preeclampsia and 31 gestational week-matched normal pregnancies. Ghrelin and obestatin concentrations in maternal serum were determined by radioimmunoassay, and the ghrelin/obestatin ratio was calculated.
Results: The ghrelin concentration and ghrelin/obestatin ratio in maternal serum were significantly lower in preeclampsia than in normal pregnancies (214.34±14.27pg/mL vs 251.49±16.15pg/mL, P=0.041, 1.07±0.09 vs 0.82±0.08, P=0.023). The obestatin concentration in maternal serum was significantly higher in preeclampsia than in normal pregnancies (276.35±15.38pg/mL vs 223.53±18.61pg/mL, P=0.019). The systolic blood pressure in preeclampsia was negatively correlated with ghrelin concentration and ghrelin/obestatin ratio (r=-0.549, P=0.003; r=-0.491, P=0.004) and was positively correlated with obestatin concentrations in preeclampsia (r=0.388, P=0.013).
Conclusions: The findings of this study suggested disturbance of ghrelin and obestatin in maternal serum in preeclampsia, and ghrelin/obestatin imbalance might play a role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.
Keywords: Blood pressure; Ghrelin; Obestatin; Preeclampsia; Pregnant complication.
Copyright © 2015 International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.