Investigation of serum apelin-13 and apelin-36 concentrations in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia; a prospective case-control study

Abstract

Objective

We aimed to investigate the relationship between preeclampsia and maternal serum apelin-13 and apelin-36 concentrations.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was carried out in the Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic of Umraniye Training and Research Hospital. The preeclampsia group consisted of 40 pregnant women diagnosed with preeclampsia, and the control group consisted of 40 healthy pregnant women matched with the preeclampsia group in terms of age and body mass index. The two groups were compared in terms of maternal serum apelin-13 and apelin-36 concentrations.

Results

Both groups were similar in terms of demographic characteristics and the gestational week at blood sampling. Maternal serum apelin-13 and apelin-36 concentrations were significantly lower in the preeclampsia group than in the control group (p = 0.005, p = 0.001, respectively). The optimal cutoff value for the prediction of preeclampsia in receiver operator curve analysis for apelin-13 was determined as 1781.67 pg/ml with 60% sensitivity and 60% specificity, and 885.5 pg/ml for apelin-36 with 67% sensitivity and 65% specificity. We divided the preeclampsia group into two groups mild and severe and compared the three groups in terms of maternal serum apelin-13 and apelin-36 concentrations. The lowest apelin-13 concentration was detected in the severe preeclampsia group, while the lowest apelin-36 concentration was detected in the mild preeclampsia group (p = 0.020, p = 0.003, respectively). Considering the onset of the disease, we divided the preeclampsia group into two groups early and late-onset, then compared the three groups in terms of maternal serum apelin-13 and apelin-36 concentrations. The lowest maternal serum apelin-13 and apelin-36 concentrations were detected in the early-onset preeclampsia group (p = 0.016, p = 0.001, respectively).

Conclusion

It was determined that serum apelin-13 and apelin-36 concentrations were significantly lower in preeclamptic pregnant women, this decrease was more significant in early-onset preeclampsia, and low maternal serum apelin-13 concentration was more associated with the severity of preeclampsia.

Keywords:

• Apelin-13
• apelin-36
• hypertension
• preeclampsia
• pregnancy

Acknowledgments

We thank all participants who voluntarily participated in this study.

Disclosure statement

The authors received no funding or grants and report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Data availability statement

Data supporting the findings of this study is available via the OSFHOME data repository with the 10.17605/OSF.IO/4CG8R DOI identifier.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.