Maternal plasma fetuin-A concentration is lower in patients who subsequently developed preterm preeclampsia than in uncomplicated pregnancy: a longitudinal study^*

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study groups.

	Uncomplicated pregnancy (n = 160)	Preeclampsia (n = 40)	p
Maternal age (years)	24 (20–30)	20.5 (19–25)	0.02
Pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) (kg/m^2)	23.9 (21.6–26.8)	25.7 (23.5–29.2)	0.005
Smoking	23 (14.4)	2 (5)	0.55
Nulliparity	71 (44.4)	26 (65)	0.02
Gestational age at enrollment (weeks)	9.4 (8–11.4)	10 (8.7–11.4)	0.3
Gestational age at delivery (weeks)	40 (39.2–40.7)	38 (34.8–39.3)	<0.001
Birthweight (g)	3415 (3190–3560)	2980 (1990–3537)	<0.001
Birthweight <10th percentile	0	11 (27.5)	<0.001
Delivery <37 weeks	0	15 (37.5)	<0.001

Data expressed as median (interquartile range) and number (percentage).

Table 2. Longitudinal analysis of the association between fetuin-A and preeclampsia after adjusting for confounding factors.

	All preeclampsia versus uncomplicated pregnancy
	Estimate	Standard error	t-value	p value
Intercept	265.7	5.3	49.89	< 0.001
(GA-41)	−4.9	1.2	−4.25	< 0.001
(GA-41)^2	−0.198	0.088	−2.24	0.01
(GA-41)^3	−0.0014	0.0019	−0.77	0.22
Group	−43.2	15.1	−2.87	0.002
BMI-25	1.63	0.72	2.27	0.01
Storage-8.13	−27.0	4.6	−5.82	<0.001
(GA-41) × PE	−10.3	3.4	−3.06	0.001
(GA-41)^2 × PE	−0.700	0.238	−2.94	0.002
(GA-41)^3 × PE	−0.014	0.005	−2.86	0.002

GA, gestational age; BMI, body mass index; PE, preeclampsia; (GA-41) × PE, interaction term between diagnosis and GA; (GA-41)² × PE, interaction between diagnosis and GA², (GA-41)³ × PE, interaction between diagnosis and GA³.

Figure 1. Maternal plasma concentrations of fetuin-A in women with uncomplicated pregnancy (black dot) and patients who subsequently developed preeclampsia (PE) (red dot). The gestational age dependence of the fetuin-A concentration in uncomplicated pregnant women (black line) and those in preeclampsia group (red line) was estimated using linear mixed-effects using a third degree polynomial function. The vertical lines on the preeclampsia curve denote statistical significance of the difference between the two groups at the corresponding gestational age according to a linear mixed-effects model adjusting for covariates [body mass index (BMI) (kg/m²) and the duration of sample storage (years)].

Table 3. The difference in plasma fetuin-A concentration and the statistical differences (p value) according to weeks before clinical diagnosis between patients with preterm preeclampsia and uncomplicated pregnancies.

Weeks before clinical diagnosis	Difference in plasma fetuin-A concentration between patients with preterm preeclampsia and uncomplicated pregnancies	p value
0	−31.46	0.03
−1	−20.10	0.14
−2	−11.00	0.40
−3	−3.98	0.76
−4	1.12	0.93
−5	4.49	0.74
−6	6.29	0.65
−7	6.69	0.63
−8	5.88	0.66
−9	4.02	0.76
−10	1.28	0.92
−11	−2.15	0.87
−12	−6.11	0.64
−13	−10.43	0.42
−14	−14.93	0.26
−15	−19.43	0.15

Table 4. The difference in plasma fetuin-A concentration and the statistical differences (p value) according to weeks before clinical diagnosis between patients with term preeclampsia and uncomplicated pregnancies.

Weeks before clinical diagnosis	Difference in plasma fetuin-A concentration between patients with term preeclampsia and uncomplicated pregnancies	p value
0	−10.84	0.42
−1	−4.97	0.69
−2	−0.20	0.99
−3	3.56	0.76
−4	6.40	0.59
−5	8.40	0.48
−6	9.66	0.42
−7	10.26	0.40
−8	10.29	0.39
−9	9.84	0.41
−10	8.99	0.45
−11	7.84	0.51
−12	6.47	0.58
−13	4.97	0.67
−14	3.42	0.77
−15	1.93	0.87