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First-Trimester Levels of Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein A2 (PAPP-A2) in the Maternal Circulation Are Elevated in Pregnancies That Subsequently Develop Preeclampsia

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Abstract

Recent studies have consistently found pregnancy-associated plasma protein A2 (PAPP-A2) to be upregulated in preeclamptic placentae at term. We tested whether first-trimester circulating PAPP-A2 levels differed between complicated and uncomplicated pregnancies. We measured maternal PAPP-A2 levels at 10 to 14 weeks of gestational age in 17 pregnancies resulting in small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants, 6 which developed preeclampsia (PE), 1 which developed PE and resulted in an SGA infant, and 37 gestational age-matched controls. The concentration of the PAPP-A2 isoform corresponding to the full-length protein was significantly higher in pregnancies that developed PE (35 ng/mL) compared with those that did not (23 ng/mL; P < .044). In contrast, we found no difference in PAPP-A2 levels between pregnancies that did or did not result in an SGA infant. The upregulation of PAPP-A2 that has previously been observed in PE at term appears to begin early in pregnancy, well before the symptoms develop.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada

    Erin J. Crosley & Julian K. Christians PhD

  2. Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

    Ursula Durland MSc & Ken Seethram MD, FRCSC, FACOG

  3. Provincial Health Services Authority, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Scott MacRae MN, RN

  4. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Andrée Gruslin MD, FRCSC

Authors
  1. Erin J. Crosley
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  2. Ursula Durland MSc
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  3. Ken Seethram MD, FRCSC, FACOG
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  4. Scott MacRae MN, RN
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  5. Andrée Gruslin MD, FRCSC
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  6. Julian K. Christians PhD
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Correspondence to Erin J. Crosley.

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Crosley, E.J., Durland, U., Seethram, K. et al. First-Trimester Levels of Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein A2 (PAPP-A2) in the Maternal Circulation Are Elevated in Pregnancies That Subsequently Develop Preeclampsia. Reprod. Sci. 21, 754–760 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719113512532

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719113512532

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