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Concentration of first-trimester maternal serum placental protein (PP) 13 is useful in determining the risk of early-onset preeclampsia.

Concentration of first-trimester maternal serum placental protein (PP) 13 is useful in determining the risk of early-onset preeclampsia.

In the August issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Roberto Romero of Wayne State University/Hutzel Women's Hospital, Detroit, and colleagues note that in recent studies, reduced PP13, has been associated with a significantly increased risk of preeclampsia.

To determine if this protein would be useful in risk assessment, the researchers used data from a prospective study conducted in Chile including 50 women with preeclampsia and 250 with normal pregnancies.

Calculating the PP13 multiples of the median for gestational age, the team found that concentrations were significantly lower in mothers who developed preterm and early onset preeclampsia than in those with normal pregnancies.

The researchers found that PP13 did not identify mild preeclampsia at term and was only a weak marker of severe preeclampsia at term

"Because the lower concentration of PP13 is observed in the first trimester of pregnancy, months before the development of clinical disease," say the investigators, "this suggests that the decreased concentration in maternal blood is not the consequence of the disease."

Dr. Romero told Reuters Health that the results are promising, but stressed that larger studies are required. "In particular," he said, "a prospective study combining first trimester PP13 with other analytes and sonographic findings such as Doppler studies of the uterine arteries, might be helpful in the assessment of risk for the development of preeclampsia."

Am J Obstet Gynecol 2008;199:122.e1-122.e11.