Serum levels of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1) and soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (sVEGFR)-1 and -2 in HIV associated preeclampsia

ABSTRACT

Objective: The angiogenic–antiangiogenic imbalance evident in preeclampsia (PE) may be used as a predictive tool to identify women likely to develop the clinical features in early pregnancy. Method: This retrospective study examined normotensive pregnant (n = 38) and preeclamptic (n = 38) HIV-infected and uninfected women to quantify sVEGFR-1 and -2 and PECAM-1 levels. Results: In contrast to PECAM-1, sVEGFR-1 and -2 differed according to pregnancy type (p = 0.07; p = 0.001; p = 0.002) but not by HIV status (p = 0.68; p = 0.13; p = 0.43). Conclusion: Irrespective of the HIV status, we report an upregulation of sVEGFR-1 with concomitant decline of PECAM-1 and sVEGFR-2 levels in PE compared to normotensive pregnancies.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV
• preeclampsia
• PECAM-1
• sVEGFR-1
• sVEGFR-2

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the institutional biostatistician, Dr. C. Connolly.

Declaration of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

Funding

Financial support was obtained from College of Health Sciences, UKZN.