First-trimester levels of pregnancy-associated plasma protein A2 (PAPP-A2) in the maternal circulation are elevated in pregnancies that subsequently develop preeclampsia

Reprod Sci. 2014 Jun;21(6):754-60. doi: 10.1177/1933719113512532. Epub 2013 Dec 13.

Abstract

Recent studies have consistently found pregnancy-associated plasma protein A2 (PAPP-A2) to be upregulated in preeclamptic placentae at term. We tested whether first-trimester circulating PAPP-A2 levels differed between complicated and uncomplicated pregnancies. We measured maternal PAPP-A2 levels at 10 to 14 weeks of gestational age in 17 pregnancies resulting in small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants, 6 which developed preeclampsia (PE), 1 which developed PE and resulted in an SGA infant, and 37 gestational age-matched controls. The concentration of the PAPP-A2 isoform corresponding to the full-length protein was significantly higher in pregnancies that developed PE (35 ng/mL) compared with those that did not (23 ng/mL; P < .044). In contrast, we found no difference in PAPP-A2 levels between pregnancies that did or did not result in an SGA infant. The upregulation of PAPP-A2 that has previously been observed in PE at term appears to begin early in pregnancy, well before the symptoms develop.

Keywords: PAPP-A2; preeclampsia; small-for-gestational-age.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Biomarkers / blood
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Placental Circulation / physiology*
  • Pre-Eclampsia / blood*
  • Pre-Eclampsia / diagnosis*
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Trimester, First / blood*
  • Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A / biosynthesis*
  • Retrospective Studies

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • PAPPA2 protein, human
  • Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A