Midkine Role With Deregulated Oxidative and Immune Milieu in Induction of Preeclampsia

Midkine Interplays With Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Milieu to Induce Preeclampsia in Normotensive Pregnant Women

Preeclampsia (PE) is a hypertensive pregnancy-related disorder that endangers maternal and fetal outcomes and accounts for 9-10% of maternal mortalities with its early-onset phenotype is the most dangerous, but its etiology is still not fully elucidated.

Midkine (MDK) is a multifunctional protein that plays a unique role in the development of hypertension (HTN), via its proatherogenic effect and induction of overexpression of angiotensin converting enzyme. Oxidative stress (OS) upregulates the expression of MDK and MDK induces propagation of neoangiogenesis and acts as chemotactic for neutrophils.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Newly pregnant normotensive (NT) women with singleton fetus;
• Free of the Exclusion Criteria.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Women with history of complicated pregnancy;
• Had manifest essential hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus or chronic kidney diseases;
• Had multiple gestational sacs, morbid obesity with Body Mass Index at time of pregnancy diagnosis over 35 kg/m2;
• Had genetic disorders, coagulopathy, autoimmune diseases or maintained on immunosuppressive therapy.