Comparison between some inflammatory biomarkers including ICAM-1, IL-6 and CRP in preeclamptic women in different gestational ages

Background: Preeclampsia is a disease of pregnancy characterized by a blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or more on two separate occasions after the 20th gestational week in a previously normotensive woman. This is accompanied by significant proteinuria (>300 mg in 24 hours) and is associated with endothelial cell damage. The markers of endothelial activation or inflammation have been blamed to play an active role in preeclampsia.
Subjects and materials and methods: This study included 97 pregnant with a confirmed diagnosis of preeclampsia as a patient group and 72 control pregnant women, with a gestational age ranging between 20-38 weeks. They are divided into three subgroups according to their gestational age (20-26 wk, 27-32 wk and 33-38 wk) and the mean of their age was 29.34±4.82, 30.14±5.33 and 32.54±6.22 respectively. Participants belong to both patient and control groups had underwent same procedure serological tests for Intracellular Adhesion Molecule 1 (ICAM I), interleukin-6 (IL6) and C-reactive protein (CRP).
Results: Results showed that there were statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) in ICAMI, IL-6 and CRP values between patient and control groups and between the patient with moderate and those with severe preeclampsia in all tested gestational age subgroups. This supports the hypothesis stating a role of cytokines and inflammatory biomarkers in the mechanism underlying preeclampsia. Moreover, and at all gestational age subgroups, the ICAMI, CRP and IL-6 values were higher in patients with severe disease when compared with those having moderate disease.
In conclusion, an inflammatory process is blamed to be the underlying mechanism of preeclampsia as proved by the elevated levels biomarkers in these patients.