OBJECTIVES:

To evaluate maternal serum concentrations of adipokines: adiponectin, adipsin, leptin, lipocalin-2, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, nerve growth factor, resistin and tumor necrosis factor-alpha and their relationship with pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain in women with preeclampsia compared with healthy women, and to perform an analysis classifying preeclampsia as early and late.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Cross-sectional, comparative, retrolective, non-probabilistic convenience sampling study carried out in patients attended at the Hospital de Gineco-Obstetricia 3, Centro Médico Nacional La Raza, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS). Preoperatively, a blood sample was taken to determine serum adipokine concentrations by multianalyte assays.

RESULTS:

A sample of 75 women with healthy pregnancy and 44 with preeclampsia (early n = 20, late n = 24) was studied. Only adipsin, leptin, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha concentrations were higher in preeclampsia than in healthy pregnancy [median (interquartile range): 3. 9 µg/mL (2.9-5.4) vs. 2.5 µg/mL (1.9-3.1), 10.6 ng/mL (6.0-19.1) compared to 7.1 ng/mL (3.8-12.4), 3.6 pg/mL (2.7-5.8) vs. 2.9 (2.3-3.5), respectively]. Adipokine concentrations did not correlate with pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain. There were no significant differences in concentrations between preeclampsia subtypes.

CONCLUSION:

In the third trimester of pregnancy, preeclampsia is associated with an altered serum adipokine profile, characterized by elevated concentrations of adipsin, leptin, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, which is not related to prepregnancy body mass index, gestational weight gain, and preeclampsia subtype.