ABSTRACT
The cause of preeclampsia remains largely unknown, but oxidative stress and a generalized inflammatory state are features of the maternal syndrome. The aim of this work is to determine the role of free radicals and antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase and glutathione in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. This study was carried out on 65 females: 50 preeclamptic [25 mild preeclampsia and 25 severe preeclampsia] patients and 15 healthy normotensive pregnant females as control. All subjects were submitted to full history taking, general clinical examination, laboratory investigations including, measurements of plasma superoxide dismutase [SOD], erythrocyte glutathione [GSH], plasma malondialdehyde [MDA], serum cholesterol, serum triglyceride, serum HDLc,serum LDLc, and total proteins in urine. The study showed that SOD [p<0.001], GSH [p<0.001] and HDLc [p<0.001] levels are significantly lower in preeclampsia cases than control, while MDA [p<0.001], TG [p<0.001] and LDLc [p<0.001] levels are significantly higher in preeclampsia cases than control. There is no significant difference between control group and preeclampsia cases as regards to total cholesterol [p<0.05]. There is significant negative correlation between HDLc and MDA [p<0.05] in preeclampsia cases. It could be concluded be that hyperlipidemia, elevated lipid peroxides and decreased antioxidant capacity might be involved in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia