• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Increased secretory sphingomyelinase activity in the first trimester of pregnancy in women later developing preeclampsia: a nested case-control study
  • Contributor: Rodríguez-Sureda, Víctor; Crovetto, Francesca; Triunfo, Stefania; Sánchez, Olga; Crispi, Fátima; Llurba, Elisa; Gratacós, Eduard; Figueras, Francesc; Domínguez, Carmen
  • Published: Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2016
  • Published in: Biological Chemistry, 397 (2016) 3, Seite 269-279
  • Language: Not determined
  • DOI: 10.1515/hsz-2015-0266
  • ISSN: 1437-4315; 1431-6730
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: AbstractThe pathogenic basis of abnormal placentation and dysfunction in preeclampsia (PE) is highly complex and incompletely understood. Secretory sphyngomyelinase activity (S-ASM) was analyzed in plasma samples from 158 pregnant women developing PE and 112 healthy pregnant controls. Serum PlGF, sFlt-1, s-Endoglin and sVCAM were measured. Results showed S-ASM activity to be higher in women who later developed PE than in those with uncomplicated pregnancies (40.6% and 28.8% higher in the late- and early-onset groups, respectively). Plasma S-ASM activity correlated significantly with circulating markers of endothelial damage in the late-PE group (endoglin and sVCAM-1), with plasma cholesterol and total lipid levels. However, these significant associations were not observed in the early-PE or control groups. This work provides the first evidence of significantly elevated circulating S-ASM activity in the first trimester of pregnancy in women who go on to develop PE; thus, it may be deduced that the circulating form of ASM is biologically active in PE and could contribute to promoting endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular programming. Plasma S-ASM measurement may have clinical relevance as a further potential biomarker contributing to the earliest identification of women at risk of developing preeclampsia.