Serum human pregnancy specific glycoprotein 1 in pregnant women with preeclampsia vs normal pregnancy

Pregnancy-specific glycoproteins (PSGs), known as
Schwangerschafts Protein and pregnancy-specific beta 1 glycoproteins, are a
family of soluble proteins released by the placental syncytiotrophoblasts
during pregnancy. PSGs have been detected as early as 3 days post fertilization
in the maternal serum, with the attachment of the blastocyst to the uterine wall,
and then the level increases gradually and reaches to the level of 200 400
µg/mL in the third trimester, while in the fetal serum, its level does not
exceed 1-2 µg/L. PSGs can control the secretion of proangiogenic factors,
TGF-β1 and VEGF A, by various types of cell included in placental development. The
provision of an immunomodulator environment and The stimulation of angiogenesis
in the maternal–foetal interface indicate that PSGs are effective in progress
of pregnancy and successful outcomes.

Studies Previously have revealed that the level of PSG is
abnormal in complicated pregnancies and illustrate the role of this protein for
protect healthy pregnancies so, it is clear that the PSG level in serum
diminished with complicated pregnancy outcome abortion, ectopic pregnancy,
fetal hypoxia and intrauterine growth retardation. This study aimed to detect
the relationship between PSG levels and preeclampsia by comparing serum PSG
levels between pregnant with preeclampsia and normotensive healthy pregnants,
and since the PSG1 mRNA is fairly expressed highly compared with other PSGs in
the pregnancy first trimester and in the term placenta.

A total of 90 pregnant women, whom were recruited during
their antenatal care visits to the obstetrical department in Hospital, were
included. They were divided into two groups: 45 women with diagnosis of
preeclampsia and 45 controls who were the women with healthy pregnancy. Blood
samples were collected from both groups and the measurement of pregnancy
specific glycoprotein 1 was done using an enzyme immunometric assay.

The groups of preeclampsia pregnant women had markedly lower
pregnancy specific glycoprotein 1 than the women with the uneventful pregnancies
(p value < 0.001). Pregnancy specific glycoprotein 1 can significantly
predict preeclampsia (P value < 0.001) with an odds ratio of 0.839 and 95%
confidence interval of 0.763 – 0.924. By application of receiver operating
characteristic curve analysis, it was observed that the cut-off value of
pregnancy specific glycoprotien1 for predicting preeclampsia was 10.4 ng/ml
with 77% sensitivity and 60% specificity, the area under the curve 0.728 with
95% confidence interval between 0.622 and 0.835, P value < 0.001).

This study had found that women with PE had significantly
lower PSG1 levels than the women with the uneventful pregnancies (9.8 vs 14.3
ng/ml; p value < 0.001).

From the results of the present study, it could be concluded
that pregnancies complicated by PE are associated with decreased serum maternal
level of PSG1, and values <10.4 ng/ml can predict the development of PE with
77% sensitivity and 60% specificity. The abnormally decreased levels of PSG1 in
pregnant women with PE might be a reflection of stressed or dysfunctional
syncytiotrophoblasts, which is related to the pathogenesis of this placental
disorder.

Source: Murad et al. / Indian Journal of Obstetrics and
Gynecology Research 2024;11(3):388–392;