ABSTRACT
Objectives: The objective of this work was to determine the value of maternal serum potent androgen levels, namely total and free testosterone in relation to the severity of preeclampsia
Subjects and Methods: The study was carried out on sixty pregnant women, twenty of them had mild preeclampsia [group I], twenty were cases of severe preeclampsia [group II], and twenty normotensive pregnant females acting as a control group [group III] and matched with the other two groups as regards gravidity, age, body mass index, and gestational age. All cases were subjected to a thorough history taking, a full clinical examination, an ultrasonographic examination and umbilical artery Doppler evaluation. In all cases serum creatinine, serum uric acid, serum liver enzymes, 24 hour protein in urine, and platelet count were measured using standard techniques. Total and free testosterone levels were measured in sera of all patients using electrochemiluminescence immunoassay, and enzyme linked immunoassay respectively
Results: A significant increase in serum uric acid, creatinine, liver enzymes, and decrease in platelet were found in patients with mild and severe preeclampsia in comparison to normotensive pregnant females. Furthermore, group II cases had statistically significant higher level of serum uric acid, serum creatinine, and serum liver enzymes and also had a significantly lower platelet count in comparison to group I. A significant increase in total and free serum testosterone level was found in patients in group I [1.27 +/- 0.39 ng/ml for total and 1.577 +/- 0.736 pg/ml for free testosterone] and in group II [1.82 +/- 0.46 ng/ml for total and 3.779+/-1.626 pg/ml for free testosterone compared to group III [0.61 +/-. 0.26 ng/ml for total and 0.458 +/- 0.245 pg/ml for free testosterone]. Furthermore, group II cases had statistically significant higher total testosterone serum levels than group I cases [P =0.000]
Conclusions: Potent serum androgens namely free and total testosterone are elevated in preeclampsia, and their levels are related to the severity of preeclampsia