Placental Growth Factor Preeclampsia Risk Sickle Cell Pregnancy
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Predicting Preeclampsia Risk in Pregnant women with Sickle Cell Disease
Table of Contents
Understanding the Connection: Sickle Cell Disease and Preeclampsia
Pregnant women with sickle cell disease face a heightened risk of developing early-onset preeclampsia.New research indicates that measuring levels of placental growth factor (PlGF), a protein crucial for placental function and advancement, can help clinicians anticipate and potentially mitigate adverse pregnancy outcomes. These findings were published in the journal Blood Advances.
The Challenge of PlGF measurement in Sickle Cell Disease
“Patients with sickle cell disease are at high risk for developing preeclampsia, but the challenge is that these patients produce placental growth factor even when they aren’t pregnant,” explained Dr. Kinga Malinowski, lead study author and co-director of the Hematology in pregnancy Program at Mount Sinai Hospital, and now leading the Hematology-Focused Maternal Fetal Medicine Clinic at Hamilton Health Sciences and a professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at McMaster University.
“This has raised the question of whether we can use low placental growth factor levels to predict preeclampsia in this patient population, and our study finds that, yes, we can, and with the same threshold that we use for patients without sickle cell disease,” Dr. Malinowski stated.
What is Placental Growth Factor (PlGF) and Preeclampsia?
Placental growth factor (PlGF) is a protein produced by the placenta that plays a vital role in the development of blood vessels. Measuring PlGF levels is a recognized method for assessing the risk of preeclampsia,a potentially life-threatening pregnancy complication typically arising after 20 weeks. Preeclampsia is characterized by high blood pressure and protein in the urine.
Women with sickle cell disease are more then 2.4 times more likely to develop preeclampsia during pregnancy compared to women without the condition. This complication can lead to fetal growth restriction,premature birth,and severe health consequences for the mother,including stroke and organ damage.
Study Methodology and Findings
The researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of data from 83 pregnant women with sickle cell disease and 149 Black women without sickle cell disease, all patients at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. All pregnancies included at least one PlGF measurement taken between 20 and 36 weeks of gestation.
| Group | PlGF Levels (pg/mL) |
|---|---|
| Sickle Cell Disease & Early-onset Preeclampsia (20-24 weeks) | 78 |
| Sickle Cell Disease & Late-Onset Preeclampsia | 158 |
| Sickle cell Disease & No Preeclampsia | 435 |
The study revealed that median PlGF levels in women with sickle cell disease who developed early-onset preeclampsia were significantly lower (78 pg/mL) at 20-24 weeks compared to those who developed late-onset preeclampsia (158 pg/mL) or experienced no preeclampsia (435 pg/mL).This pattern closely mirrored the observations in the control group.