Maternal plasma soluble TRAIL is decreased in preeclampsia

Figures & data

Table 1. Clinical characteristics of uncomplicated pregnancy versus preeclampsia.

	Uncomplicated pregnancy	Preeclampsia	p Value
	(n = 93)	(n = 52)
Age (years)	24 (21, 29)	23 (19, 29)	0.32
Race
African American	69 (74.19)	39 (75)	0.63
Caucasian	13 (13.98)	8 (15.38)
Hispanic	5 (5.38)	4 (7.69)
Asian	6 (6.45)	0
Other	0	1 (1.92)
Nulliparity (%)	28 (30.1)	35 (67.3)	<0.001
Pre- pregnancy body mass index (BMI; kg/m^2)	24.74 (21.42 to 31.01)*	26.68 (24.06 to 30.27)†	0.28
Gestational age at venipuncture (weeks)	33.71 (28.86 to 38.93)	31.86 (29.18 to 37.54)	0.44
Gestational age at delivery (weeks)	39.29 (38.57 to 40.36)	32.29 (29.93 to 37.57)	<0.001
Birthweight (grams)	3360 (3085 to 3634.5)	1725 (1150 to 2635)	<0.001

Values are presented as median (interquartile range).

*missing data N = 49, †Missing data N = 31.

Figure 1. Median plasma sTRAIL and CRP concentrations in women with uncomplicated pregnancy and preeclampsia. Women with preeclampsia had a significantly lower median (IQR) plasma sTRAIL concentration (pg/mL) than those with uncomplicated pregnancy [25.55 (20.62–36.11) versus 29.17 (25.24–36.28); p = 0.03]. For CRP, women with preeclampsia had a significantly higher median (IQR) plasma CRP concentration (ng/mL) than those with uncomplicated pregnancy [8 (5.3–1.7) versus 4.1 (1.2–8.6); p = 0.001].

Figure 2. Median plasma concentrations of sTRAIL and CRP in women with uncomplicated preterm gestations and preterm preeclampsia. Women with preterm preeclampsia had a significantly lower median (IQR) plasma concentration (pg/mL) of sTRAIL than those with uncomplicated preterm gestations [24.76 (19.81–35.45) versus 30.50 (26.41–39.23) p = 0.03]. For CRP, women with preterm preeclampsia had a significantly higher median (IQR) plasma concentration (ng/mL) than those with uncomplicated preterm gestations [8.7 (5.5–19.7) versus 4.1 (0.9–8.8); p = 0.002].

Figure 3. Median plasma concentrations of sTRAIL and CRP in women with uncomplicated term pregnancy and term preeclampsia. There was no significant difference in the median (IQR) plasma sTRAIL (pg/mL) and CRP (ng/mL) concentrations between these two groups [26.84 (22.95–33.45) versus 23.82 (20.62–34.24); p = 0.68 and 4.9 (1.2–8.8) versus 7.6 (3.4–10); p = 0.32, respectively].

Figure 4. The median plasma concentration of sTRAIL/CRP ratio (pg/ng) ratio in women with uncomplicated pregnancy and preeclampsia. Women with preeclampsia had a significantly lower median (IQR) plasma sTRAIL/CRP ratio concentration (pg/ng) than those with uncomplicated pregnancy. [2.66 (1.63–5.1) versus 5.89 (3.82–11.19); p < 0.001]. Plasma sTRAIL/CRP ratio could not be calculated in 7 patients who had CRP below the limit of detection.