Obesity and preeclampsia: the potential role of inflammation.
Obstet Gynecol
; 98(5 Pt 1): 757-62, 2001 Nov.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-11704165
OBJECTIVE: Systemic inflammation might contribute to the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. In addition, the association between obesity and inflammation in preeclampsia has not been examined in detail. We determined whether first-trimester elevation of serum C-reactive protein, an index of systemic inflammation, was associated with preeclampsia. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, nested case-control study among women enrolled in the Massachusetts General Hospital Obstetrical Maternal Study cohort. High-resolution C-reactive protein assays were performed on first-trimester (11 +/- 2 weeks' gestation) serum samples in 40 women in whom preeclampsia developed (blood pressure [BP] greater than 140/90 mmHg, and proteinuria, either 2+ or more by dipstick or greater than 300 mg per 24 hours), and in 80 matched controls. This sample size had greater than 80% power to detect a difference in C-reactive protein levels between cases and controls. We used nonparametric tests to compare C-reactive protein levels and conditional logistic regression to control for confounding variables. RESULTS: First-trimester C-reactive protein levels were significantly higher among women in whom preeclampsia subsequently developed compared with controls (4.6 compared with 2.3 mg/L, P =.04). When women were subdivided into C-reactive protein quartiles, the odds ratio (OR) of being in the highest quartile of C-reactive protein was 3.2 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1, 9.3, P =.02) among cases of preeclampsia compared with controls. When body mass index (BMI) was added to the multivariable model, the highest quartile of C-reactive protein was no longer associated with increased risk of preeclampsia (OR 1.1, 95% CI.3, 4.3, P =.94). In the same model without BMI, the highest quartile of C-reactive protein was associated with increased risk of preeclampsia (OR 3.5, 95% CI 1.3, 9.5, P =.01). CONCLUSION: In women with preeclampsia, there was evidence of increased systemic inflammation in the first trimester. Inflammation might be part of a causal pathway through which obesity predisposes to preeclampsia.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pre-Eclampsia
/
C-Reactive Protein
/
Obesity
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Pregnancy
Language:
En
Journal:
Obstet Gynecol
Year:
2001
Document type:
Article