URINARY GONADOTROPIN PEPTIDE LEVELS IN PREECLAMPTIC AND NORMOTENSIVE PREGNANT-WOMEN - RESULTS FROM A PILOT CASE-CONTROL STUDY

Objective: Elevated maternal serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is an important marker of Down syndrome. Notably, women with unexplain ed elevated serum hCG in the second trimester experience a 2- to 5-fol d increase risk of preeclampsia. Urinary gonadotropin peptide (UGP), t hought to be a metabolite of hCG that is excreted into urine, has rece ntly been shown to be elevated in Down syndrome pregnancies. We sought to examine urinary UGP levels in preeclamptic and normotensive pregna nt women. Methods: We measured UGP levels in urine collected during th e third trimester from 18 women with preeclampsia and 20 normotensive controls, UGP levels were determined using enzyme immunoassay and were corrected for dilution using urinary creatinine, Statistical signific ance testing was done using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Rank Sum test an d Student t test statistics, Results: There was a statistically signif icant elevation in urinary UGP levels among preeclamptic cases as comp ared to normotensive control subjects (p = 0.013), Mean urinary UGP le vels were 80.7 and 31.3 pmol/mg creatinine for preeclampsia cases and controls, respectively. Elevations in UGP levels among women with pree clampsia as compared with normotensive control subjects persisted afte r adjustments for possible confounding factors. Conclusion: These earl y findings suggest that elevations in urinary UGP may be a risk marker for preeclampsia, Prospective studies should further clarify the rela tion between urinary UGP levels and adverse pregnancy outcomes, These results are consistent with results suggesting a role of placental hyp operfusion in the etiology of preeclampsia.