Elevated levels of lipoprotein(a) in women with preeclampsia

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: We examined the hypothesis that lipoprotein(a) levels are elevated in preeclampsia and associated with severity of the disease. STUDY DESIGN: Plasma lipoprotein(a) levels were measured in 24 normal pregnant women, 18 mild, and 8 severe preeclamptic women using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Kruskall-Wallis one-way analysis of variance was used to evaluate the difference in plasma lipoprotein(a) among different groups. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the differences between two groups. RESULTS: The plasma lipoprotein(a) levels were increased in pregnant women with both severe preeclampsia (median 826.9 mg/L [interquartile range 590.7, 986.9 mg/L], n = 8, p < 0.0001) and mild preeclampsia (median 357.7 mg/L [interquartile range 208.0, 477.1 mg/L], n = 18, p < 0.0001) compared with normal pregnancy (median 78.5 mg/L [interquartile range 45.2, 127.9 mg/L], n = 24). The lipoprotein(a) level was significantly higher in severe than in mild preeclampsia ( p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study has demonstrated that lipoprotein(a) levels are elevated in preeclampsia and associated with severity of the disease. It may serve as a marker of the pathogenic process. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 1998;178:146-9.)