Predictive Value of Maternal Serum Biomarkers for Preeclampsia and Birth Weight: A Case-Control Study in Chinese Pregnant Women

Background: In clinical practice, abnormal biochemical changes often occur in women who eventually develop preeclampsia (PE). The study aims to investigate whether maternal serum biochemical markers in the early third trimester can predict PE and neonatal birth weight. Study Design: A retrospective case-control study was performed on 287 women who subsequently developed PE (mild=139; severe=148) and 143 healthy women. Fasting venous blood samples of all gravidas were drawn for routine biochemical markers screening in the early third trimester (28.491.63 weeks). Appropriate statistical methods were selected for analysis with SPSS software. Results: (1) The concentrations of plasma triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), and uric acid (UA) in the severe and mild subgroups of the PE group were significantly higher compared with the respective levels in the normal pregnancy groups (3.90 vs. 4.03 vs. 3.14mmol/L; 3.41 vs. 3.33 vs. 2.89mmol/L; 365.42 vs. 318.91 vs. 284.69mol/L; p<0.0001). Serum calcium levels in PE group were significantly lower than those in control group (2.10 vs. 2.18 vs. 2.22mmol/L; p<0.0001). (2) By using the receiver operating characteristic curve to estimate the diagnosis rate of screening for PE of each marker, the highest sensitivity appeared by the combination of TG, total cholesterol (TC), LDL, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), LDL/HDL, UA, Ca2+, and homocysteine (HCY) (79%). The area under curve (AUC) of UA was 0.70, which was the highest among these eight markers, but the AUC of an eight-marker combination model (0.85) had a better diagnostic indication. (3) In PE, the maximum systolic/diastolic blood pressure was significantly positively correlated with serum UA (r=0.212/0.205, p<0.0001); and negatively correlated with serum total calcium (r=-0.193/-0.196, p=0.001). The neonatal birth weight of PE group had a positive correlation with serum TG levels (r=0.141, p=0.017) and serum total calcium levels (r=0.221, p<0.0001), and a negative correlation with UA levels (r=-0.265, p<0.0001). Conclusion: The individual marker really performs terrible in predicting PE. Joint monitoring and evaluation of these parameters may improve the screening efficiency for the prediction of PE and poor fetal growth early.