Comprehensive Maternal Serum Proteomic Profiles of Preclinical and Clinical Preeclampsia

We systematically characterized maternal serum proteome in women with clinical preeclampsia (PE) and asymptomatic women in early pregnancy that subsequently developed PE. Clinical PE cohort comprised 30 patients with mild PE, 30 with severe PE, and 58 normotensive women. Preclinical PE cohort included 149 women whose serum samples were collected at 8-14 gestational weeks and in whom 30 women later developed mild and 40 severe PE. Serum proteome was analyzed and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used for protein quantification. In Clinical PE, fibronectin, pappalysin-2, choriogonadotropin-beta, apolipoprotein C-III cystatin-C, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1, and endoglin were more abundant compared to normotensive women. In preclinical PE, differently expressed proteins included placental, vascular, transport, matrix, and acute phase proteins. Angiogenic and antiangiogenic proteins were not significant. We conclude that placental and antiangiogenic proteins are abundant in clinical PE. In preclinical PE, proteomic profile is distinct and different from that in clinical PE.