sFlt-1 Is an Independent Predictor of Adverse Maternal Outcomes in Women With SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy.

Background: Preeclampsia (PE) and COVID-19 share a common vascular-endothelial physiopathological pathway that may aggravate or worsen women's outcomes when both coexist. This study aims to evaluate the association of sFlt-1 levels and adverse maternal outcomes among positive SARS-CoV-2 pregnant women with and without hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). Methods: We performed a multicenter retrospective cohort study of pregnant women with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection that required hospital admission. The exposed cohort comprised women with a diagnosis of an HDP. The primary outcome was a composite definition of adverse maternal outcome. The association between predictors and the main and secondary outcomes was assessed using an elastic-net regression which comprised a Lasso and Ridge regression method for automatic variable selection and penalization of non-statistically significant coefficients using a 10-fold cross-validation where the best model if automatically chosen by the lowest Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Bayesian information criteria (BIC). Results: Among 148 pregnant women with COVID-19, the best predictive model comprised sFlt-1 MoMs [odds ratio (OR): 5.13; 95% CI: 2.19-12.05], and HDP (OR: 32.76; 95% CI: 5.24-205). sFlt-1 MoMs were independently associated with an increased probability of an adverse maternal outcome despite adjusting for HDP. Conclusions: Our study shows that sFlt-1 is an independent predictor of adverse outcomes in women with SARS-CoV-2 despite hypertension status.

Plasma Total Antioxidant Capacity and Carbonylated Proteins Are Increased in Pregnant Women with Severe COVID-19.

Oxidative stress (OS) induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection may play an important role in COVID-19 complications. However, information on oxidative damage in pregnant women with COVID-19 is limited. Objective: We aimed to compare lipid and protein oxidative damage and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) between pregnant women with severe and non-severe COVID-19. Methods: We studied a consecutive prospective cohort of patients admitted to the obstetrics emergency department. All women positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) were included. Clinical data were collected and blood samples were obtained at hospital admission. Plasma OS markers, malondialdehyde (MDA), carbonylated proteins (CP), and TAC; angiogenic markers, fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) and placental growth factor (PlGF); and renin-angiotensin system (RAS) markers, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) and angiotensin-II (ANG-II) were measured. Correlation between OS, angiogenic, and RAS was evaluated. Results: In total, 57 pregnant women with COVID-19 were included, 17 (28.9%) of which had severe COVID-19; there were 3 (5.30%) maternal deaths. Pregnant women with severe COVID-19 had higher levels of carbonylated proteins (5782 pmol vs. 6651 pmol; p = 0.024) and total antioxidant capacity (40.1 pmol vs. 56.1 pmol; p = 0.001) than women with non-severe COVID-19. TAC was negatively correlated with ANG-II (p < 0.0001) and MDA levels (p < 0.0001) and positively with the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio (p = 0.027). Conclusions: In pregnant women, severe COVID-19 is associated with an increase in protein oxidative damage and total antioxidant capacity as a possible counterregulatory mechanism.

Maternal Death by COVID-19 Associated with Elevated Troponin T Levels.

Cardiomyocyte injury and troponin T elevation has been reported within COVID-19 patients and are associated with a worse prognosis. Limited data report this association among COVID-19 pregnant patients. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to analyze the association between troponin T levels in severe COVID-19 pregnant women and risk of viral sepsis, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, or maternal death. METHODS: We performed a prospective cohort of all obstetrics emergency admissions from a Mexican National Institute. All pregnant women diagnosed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) for SARS-CoV-2 infection between October 2020 and May 2021 were included. Clinical data were collected, and routine blood samples were obtained at hospital admission. Seric troponin T was measured at admission. RESULTS: From 87 included patients, 31 (35.63%) had severe COVID-19 pneumonia, and 6 (6.89%) maternal deaths. ROC showed a significant relationship between troponin T and maternal death (AUC 0.979, CI 0.500-1.000). At a cutoff point of 7 ng/mL the detection rate for severe pneumonia was 83.3% (95%CI: 0.500-0.100) at 10% false-positive rate. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 pregnant women with elevated levels of troponin T present a higher risk of death and severe pneumonia.

Novel Ratio Soluble Fms-like Tyrosine Kinase-1/Angiotensin-II (sFlt-1/ANG-II) in Pregnant Women Is Associated with Critical Illness in COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: In healthy pregnancies, components of the Renin-Angiotensin system (RAS) are present in the placental villi and contribute to invasion, migration, and angiogenesis. At the same time, soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) production is induced after binding of ANG-II to its receptor (AT-1R) in response to hypoxia. As RAS plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of COVID-19, we hypothesized that angiogenic marker (sFlt-1) and RAS components (ANG-II and ACE-2) may be related to adverse outcomes in pregnant women with COVID-19; Methods: Prospective cohort study. Primary outcome was severe pneumonia. Secondary outcomes were ICU admission, intubation, sepsis, and death. Spearman's Rho test was used to analyze the correlation between sFlt-1 and ANG-II levels. The sFlt-1/ANG-II ratio was determined and the association with each adverse outcome was explored by logistic regression analysis and the prediction was assessed using receiver-operating-curve (ROC); Results: Among 80 pregnant women with COVID-19, the sFlt-1/ANG-II ratio was associated with an increased probability of severe pneumonia (odds ratio [OR]: 1.31; p = 0.003), ICU admission (OR: 1.05; p = 0.007); intubation (OR: 1.09; p = 0.008); sepsis (OR: 1.04; p = 0.008); and death (OR: 1.04; p = 0.018); Conclusion: sFlt-1/ANG-II ratio is a good predictor of adverse events such as pneumonia, ICU admission, intubation, sepsis, and death in pregnant women with COVID-19.

Corrección de los múltiplos de la mediana de los biomarcadores del modelo de predicción de preeclampsia de la Fetal Medicine Foundation para población mexicana / Correction of the multiples of median of the biomarkers used in the Fetal Medicine Foundation's prediction model for preeclampsia in Mexican population

Resumen OBJETIVO: Calcular y ajustar los múltiplos de la mediana para el índice de pulsatilidad medio de las arterias uterinas, presión arterial media materna, factor de crecimiento placentario y proteína plasmática A asociada al embarazo, a fin de valorar el desempeño diagnóstico del modelo corregido de preeclampsia de la Fetal Medicine Foundation en población mexicana. MATERIALES Y MÉTODOS: Estudio de casos y controles anidado en una cohorte prospectiva efectuado en el Centro de Salud Dr. Galo Soberón y Parra entre el 1 de octubre de 2015 y el 30 de junio de 2016. Criterio de inclusión: pacientes con embarazo de 11-13.6 semanas. Criterio de exclusión: pacientes de riesgo no seleccionado, con embarazo único, entre 11 y 13.6 semanas calculadas por ecografía mediante longitud cráneo cauda. Criterio de eliminación: pacientes que abandonaron el estudio. Se evaluaron el índice de pulsatilidad medio de las arterias uterinas, la presión arterial media, los valores séricos del factor de crecimiento placentario y la proteína plasmática A asociada al embarazo. Se comparó la diferencia en la distribución de los biomarcadores entre la observada en población mexicana y la esperada según la formula original de la Fetal Medicine Foundation. Cuando la diferencia fue mayor a 0.2 múltiplos de la mediana, se utilizó la mediana del observado como coeficiente de ajuste a la fórmula original del esperado. RESULTADOS: De las 300 pacientes reclutadas, 292 concluyeron el estudio. La media de semanas de embarazo al momento del tamizaje fue de 12.4 (desviación estándar 0.72). La prevalencia de preeclampsia fue de 4.5% (13 de 292). Se encontraron diferencias importantes en la distribución de múltiplos de la mediana para el índice de pulsatilidad medio de las arterias uterinas, factor de crecimiento placentario y proteína plasmática A asociada al embarazo. Posterior a la corrección de los biomarcadores, la sensibilidad, falsos positivos y área bajo la curva del modelo ajustado para detectar cualquier preeclampsia fue de 92% (12 de 13), 5.7% (16 de 279) y 93.3%, respectivamente. CONCLUSIONES: La distribución de los múltiplos de la mediana en población mexicana es distinta para los biomarcadores: factor de crecimiento placentario, proteína plasmática A asociada al embarazo e índice de pulsatilidad medio de las arterias uterinas. El ajuste de estos biomarcadores para población mexicana resulta en un buen desempeño diagnóstico del modelo de preeclampsia.

Abstract OBJECTIVE: Calculate and adjust the multiples of the median (MoMs) for the mean pulsatility index of uterine arteries (IPm Aut), mean arterial pressure (PAM), placental growth factor (PlGF) and plasma protein associated with pregnancy (PAPP-A), in order to assess the diagnostic performance of the corrected preeclampsia model of the fetal medicine foundation in the Mexican population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Case-control study nested in a prospective cohort conducted at the "Dr. Galo Soberón y Parra "from October 1, 2015 - June 30, 2016. Patients with pregnancy of 11-13.6 weeks were included, multiple pregnancies or older than 14 weeks were excluded and patients with medication intake prior to pregnancy; Patients who decided to leave the study were eliminated. Autm IPm, PAM, PlGF and PAPP-A serum values were evaluated. The difference in the distribution of biomarkers between that observed in the Mexican population and that expected was compared according to the original formula of the Fetal Medicine Foundation. When the difference was greater than 0.2 MoMs, the median observed was used as an adjustment coefficient to the original expected formula. RESULTS: Of the 300 patients recruited, 292 concluded the study. The average gestational age at the time of screening was 12.4 weeks (standard deviation [SD] 0.72). The prevalence of preeclampsia was 4.5% (13/292). Important differences were found in the distribution of multiples of the median (MoMs) for IPm Aut, PlGF and PAPP-A. After correction of the biomarkers, the sensitivity, false positives and area under the curve (AUC) of the model adjusted to detect any preeclampsia was 92% (12/13), 5.7% (16/279) and 93.3%, respectively . CONCLUSIONS: The distribution of MoMs in the Mexican population is different for the PlGF, PAPP-A and IPm Aut biomarkers. The adjustment of these biomarkers to the Mexican population results in a good diagnostic performance of the preeclampsia model.