Maternal, gestational and neonatal characteristics and maternal angiogenic factors in normotensive pregnancies.

Objective: Alterations in maternal circulating angiogenic factors are proposed to result in hypertension and proteinuria and development of preeclampsia. The aim of this study was to explore whether preeclampsia risk factors are associated with maternal angiogenic profile in normotensive pregnancies.

Methods: Associations of pregnancy characteristics and maternal serum concentrations at delivery of proangiogenic placental growth factor (PlGF), antiangiogenic soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase receptor (sFlt1) and soluble endoglin (sEng), as well as the antiangiogenic ratios sFlt1/PlGF and (sFlt1+sEng)/PlGF were analyzed in 43 normotensive and 44 preeclamptic pregnancies.

Results: In normotensive pregnancies, increasing maternal age was associated with a more antiangiogenic profile, including lower PlGF concentrations and a higher (sFlt1+sEng)/PlGF ratio (P<0.05). In preeclampsia, shorter length of gestation and lower birth weight percentile were associated with a more antiangiogenic profile.

Conclusions: A greater antiangiogenic profile with older maternal age may suggest a biological mechanism which mediates this preeclampsia risk factor. In preeclampsia, the antiangiogenic state was more pronounced with clinical characteristics indicative of greater disease severity.