Alterations in Serum Protein Profile in Preeclampsia: A Comparative Study with Normotensive Pregnancy and Its Relation to Disease Severity and Parity

Background: Preeclampsia (PE) is a multisystem disorder of unknown etiology. It is a common cause of both maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality in both developed and developing countries. Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-specific multisystem disorder characterized by hypertension, proteinuria, and widespread endothelial dysfunction. Alterations in maternal serum protein profile, particularly serum albumin and albumin-to-globulin (A:G) ratio, may reflect disease severity and underlying pathophysiological changes. However, data regarding their association with severity and parity of preeclampsia remain limited. It is believed that the pathophysiological changes occurring in preeclampsia may result from the abnormal expression of some proteins.

Aim &objective: The objective behind the study was to determine the serum Total Protein, Albumin & A:G ratio in normotensive & preeclamptic (mild & severe) pregnant women, & to correlate, if any, relation with severity and parity of preeclampsia.

Material & method: The study was carried out in the Department of Biochemistry with collaboration with Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Gauhati Medical College & Hospital, Guwahati, in a group of 90 pregnant women who were subdivided into three groups-30 women with severe preeclampsia,30 with mild preeclampsia &30 gestational period & age matched normotensive pregnant as control.

Results & observation: The mean serum Total Protein level was very significantly low in severe PE (mean± SD=5.68± 0.366) and in mild PE (6.24± 0.53), in comparison to normotensive pregnancy (6.60±0.49); p-value <0.001. Albumin decreased to 3.35± 0.41 in normotensive pregnancy to 3.02±0.30 in mild PE & to 2.11±0.29 in severe PE, was highly significant (p˂0.001). The A:G ratio also decreased very significantly from 1.04±0.16 in normotensive to 0.97±0.17 in mild & 0.65±0.12 in severe PE (p<0.001). There was no significant change in levels of Total Protein, Albumin, Globulin and A:G ratio in relation to parity in all three groups respectively.

Conclusion: It was concluded from our study that Total Protein, Albumin & A:G ratio was found to be decreased, while no significant change in Globulin with mild & severe preeclampsia as compared to normotensive pregnancy and not influenced by parity