Elevated thrombomodulin plasma level in preeclampsia as a measure of disease severity

ABSTRACT

This study was carried out to assess the relationship between serum thrombomodulin and preeclampsia. Venous plasma samples were collected from 78 pregnant women; 18 women with severe preeclampsia, 21 women with mild preeclampsia and 39 normotensive healthy women with singleton pregnancies in the third trimester. The effect of preeclampsia on thrombomodulin release from endothelial cells was tested. Thrombomodulin levels were measured with specific immunoassays. Plasma thrombomodulin levels [mean +/- standard error of the mean] were elevated in pregnant women with severe preeclampsia [16.8 +/- 2.2 compared with 9.1 +/- 0.6 [matched control] n/ml]. Also, serum thrombomodulin levels correlated positively with serum creatinine and serum uric acid levels. In severe preeclamptic pregnancies, serum thrombomodulin levels were significantly high; therefore, elevated serum thrombomodulin levels can serve as a clinically important marker in the differentiation of the severity of preeclampsia