Homocysteine in Critically Ill Preeclampsia

Overview

Preeclampsia is a disorder characterized by the new onset of hypertension and proteinuria typically presenting after 20 weeks of gestation. Elevated circulating homocysteine is a risk factor for endothelial dysfunction and vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and occlusive disorders. Our study is to investigate the association between elevated blood homocysteine levels and complications in pregnant women in order to conclude the clinical utility of homocysteine as a marker of severity in the cases of pre-eclampsia.

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are an important cause of morbidity and mortality among mothers and infants. Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-related hypertensive disorder occurring usually after 20 weeks of gestation. It is associated with fetal growth restriction, low birth weight, preterm birth, respiratory distress syndrome, and admission to a neonatal intensive care unit. According to a systemic review and meta-analysis published in 2013, preeclampsia has a noticeable relationship with an increased risk of developing hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and cerebrovascular accident in later life. There is already abundant evidence indicating that elevated serum homocysteine levels may be related to the risk of coronary, cerebral, and peripheral arterial diseases. Elevated circulating homocysteine is a risk factor of endothelial dysfunction and vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and occlusive disorders. Normally, homocysteine levels decline throughout pregnancy and since the vascular alterations brought on by homocysteine are comparable to those brought on by hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, it can be assumed that high levels of homocysteine are linked to the hypertensive disorder spectrum. Homocysteine has been shown to produce oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction, endothelial cell injury and thrombus formation and thereby producing pre-eclampsia. Estimation of homocysteine may help to predict and prevent pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, thus reducing the undesired outcome of pregnancy. Among various studies, there is a lack of consistency in the reported results that support the link between maternal homocysteine concentrations assessed throughout each of the three trimesters of pregnancy and difficulties caused by the placenta. our study investigate the relation between the level of homocysteine and severity of preeclampsia.

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