Korean J Obstet Gynecol.  2012 Aug;55(8):546-551. 10.5468/KJOG.2012.55.8.546.

Difference in serum nephrin expression between normal and preeclamptic pregnancies: A preliminary study

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Women's Medical Life Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ywparkob@yuhs.ac
  • 2Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
  • 3Department of Biochemistry, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract


OBJECTIVE
Nephrin is one of the slit membrane proteins of podocytes in the kidney. It is known that the nephrin is shed in the urine in nephropathy accompanying proteinuira. So the aim of this study was to evaluate the difference in the serum nephrin expression between normal and preeclamptic pregnancies.
METHODS
A total of 20 pregnant women from May to September 2008 who received prenatal care and underwent delivery at our institute participated in the study. The preeclamptic group includes 13 women diagnosed as preeclampsia and a normal group of 7. Their serum were collected before delivery and analyzed by Western blotting for comparing serum nephrin expression.
RESULTS
There was no difference in age, body weight of pregnant women, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, urine creatinine level and gestational age between two groups. However, preeclampsia group had significantly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure (P<0.001), serum soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 level (P=0.002), and lower birth weight (P=0.011). In serum Western blot analysis, serum nephrin was detected in 10 of 13 in preeclampsia women (76.9%) but only in 2 of 7 (28.6%) in normal pregnancy women showing statistically significant difference (P=0.032).
CONCLUSION
A higher prevalence of nephrin expression in the maternal serum was found in the preeclampsia when compared to the normal pregnancy.

Keyword

Preeclampsia; Nephrin; Serum

MeSH Terms

Birth Weight
Blood Pressure
Blood Urea Nitrogen
Blotting, Western
Body Weight
Creatinine
Female
Gestational Age
Humans
Kidney
Membrane Proteins
Podocytes
Pre-Eclampsia
Pregnancy
Pregnant Women
Prenatal Care
Prevalence
Tyrosine
Creatinine
Membrane Proteins
Tyrosine

Figure

  • Fig. 1 Expression of nephrin in normal and preeclamptic sera by Western blot.


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