Kh. Lim et al., PLASMA TYPE-II PHOSPHOLIPASE A(2) LEVELS ARE ELEVATED IN SEVERE PREECLAMPSIA, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 172(3), 1995, pp. 998-1002
OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to compare plasma concentrations of type II
phospholipase A(2) in normal and preeclamptic pregnancies and to dete
rmine whether plasma from preeclamptic patients increases ;endothelial
cell secretion of type II phospholipase A(2). STUDY DESIGN: We compar
ed the plasma levels of type II phospholipase A(2) in 23 patients with
normal pregnancies and 25 pat!eis with strictly defined preeclampsia.
Plasma samples were collected throughout pregnancy and stored at - 80
degrees C. Patients with preeclampsia were matched as closely as poss
ible with controls formaternal age, race, gestational age at blood sam
pling, and parity. Plasma levels of type II phospholipase A(2) were me
asured by enzyme immunoassay. To investigate endothelial cell type II
phospholipase A(2) production, we measured levels of prostacyclin and
type II phospholipase A(2) in conditioned media from cultured human um
bilical vein endothelial cells exposed to plasma from pieeclamptic and
normal pregnant patients. RESULTS: The mean plasma type II phospholip
ase A(2) level in the mild preeclampsia group (6.1 +/- 3.0 ng/ml, n =
6) was not different from that in control patients (6.0 +/- 3.2 ng/ml,
n = 23). However, the mean type II phospholipase A(2) level in patien
ts with severe preeclampsia (19.9 +/- 12.3 ng/ml, n = 19) was Signific
antly higher when compared with the other two groups (p < 0.001). Pros
tacyclin concentrations in conditioned media of endothelial cells expo
sed to plasma from patients with preeclampsia were elevated compared w
ith cells incubated with control plasma (8.6 +/- 1.7 vs 4.0 +/- 5.0 ng
/ml, p < 0.05). However, the Concentratjonof type II phospholipase A(2
) in conditioned medium was not significantly different (1.6 +/- 0.3 v
s. 1.8 +/- 1.0 ng/ml, p = 0.40). CONCLUSIONS: Plasma concentrations of
type II phospholipase A(2) are elevated in preeclampsia and correlate
well with the severity of disease. Plasma from preeclamptic women inc
reased secretion of prostacyclin, but not type II phospholipase A(2) b
y endothelial cells in culture.