Maternal PlGF and sFlt-1 are Associated with Low Birth Weight and/or Small-for-Gestational Age Neonates in Pregnancy with or without Preeclampsia.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the association of PIGF and sFlt-1 with low birth weight and/or small-for-gestational age neonates in pregnancy with or without preeclampsia.

Methods: Singleton pregnancies with sFlt-1/PlGF tested were included and set into four groups for case-control analysis. Distribution of sFlt-1/PlGF, sFlt-1, PlGF, and PGF% were evaluated, Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U test were adopted for significance analysis.

Results: Maternal sFlt-1/PlGF, PlGF, PlGF%, and sFlt-1 were statistically associated with low birth weight and/or small-for-gestational age in pregnancy complicated or uncomplicated with preeclampsia. A significant difference was shown on sFlt-1/PIGF ( p  = 0.0082), PIGF% ( p  = 0.0326), PIGF ( p  = 0.0128), and sFlt-1 ( p  = 0.0469) in pregnancy with small-for-gestational age and/or low birth weight neonates. A significantly higher median of sFlt-1/PlGF (448 vs. 61.6, p  < 0.0001) and sFlt-1 (15499 vs. 3226, p  < 0.0001), a significantly lower median of PlGF (33.92 vs. 115.2, p  < 0.0001) and PlGF% (-76.63 vs. -20.31, p  < 0.0001) were demonstrated, respectively, when preeclampsia with small-for-gestational age and/or low birth weight neonates was compared with preeclampsia with normal birth weight neonates. No significant difference was demonstrated between low birth weight and small-for-gestational age on sFlt-1/PlGF, PlGF, PlGF%, and sFlt-1.

Conclusion: sFlt-1/PlGF seems to be a promising biomarker in predicting low birth weight and/or small-for-gestational age neonates in pregnancy with or without preeclampsia.