Maternal serum ratio of ghrelin to obestatin decreased in preeclampsia.

Abstract

Ghrelin, an endogenous for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, has been shown to participate in blood pressure regulation. Obestatin, encoded by the same gene as ghrelin, is described as a physiological opponent of ghrelin. We hypothesized that ghrelin/obestatin imbalance played a role in the pathogenesis. This study was designed to determine the alterations of ghrelin and obestatin concentrations and ghrelin/obestatin ratio in maternal serum in preeclampsia. This retrospective case-control study included 31 preeclampsia and 31 gestational week-matched normal pregnancies. Ghrelin and obestatin concentrations in maternal serum were determined by radioimmunoassay, and the ghrelin/obestatin ratio was calculated. The ghrelin concentration and ghrelin/obestatin ratio in maternal serum were significantly lower in preeclampsia than in normal pregnancies (214.34±14.27pg/mL vs 251.49±16.15pg/mL, P=0.041, 1.07±0.09 vs 0.82±0.08, P=0.023). The obestatin concentration in maternal serum was significantly higher in preeclampsia than in normal pregnancies (276.35±15.38pg/mL vs 223.53±18.61pg/mL, P=0.019). The systolic blood pressure in preeclampsia was negatively correlated with ghrelin concentration and ghrelin/obestatin ratio (r=-0.549, P=0.003; r=-0.491, P=0.004) and was positively correlated with obestatin concentrations in preeclampsia (r=0.388, P=0.013). The findings of this study suggested disturbance of ghrelin and obestatin in maternal serum in preeclampsia, and ghrelin/obestatin imbalance might play a role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.