Evaluation of maternal serum sestrin2 levels in preeclampsia and their relationship with the Disease severity

Abstract

Background: Preeclampsia (PE) is considered one of the major causes of both maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity. Advances have been made on understanding the pathophysiology of this pregnancy-specific disorder. Sestrin2 (SESN2) is a metabolic regulator protein, whose expression is induced in response to exposure to different adverse effects such as hypoxia, DNA damage, or oxidative stress, thus acting as cytoprotective. Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate the levels of maternal serum SESN2 in preeclamptic and uncomplicated pregnancies and their association with the disease severity. Patients and Methods: This was a case–control study conducted at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Al-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital in Iraq – Baghdad city from the first of March till the end of November 2019. The study included a total of 92 pregnant women, 27 with a healthy pregnancy, 33 with nonsevere PE, and another 32 having severe PE. From all participants, blood samples were collected for the evaluation of serum SESN2 levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: The mean readings of SESN2 for normal pregnancies were 5.22 ± 1.71 ng/ml which was significantly lower than that for the nonsevere PE group (8.41 ± 1.42 ng/ml), while SESN2 levels were the highest among those with severe PE (16.92 ± 5.15 ng/ml). A negative correlation was found between each of GA at delivery, birth interval, and birth weight and the SESN2 level (P = 0.001); while mean arterial pressure positively correlated with SESN2 levels (P = 0.001), the cutoff value for the diagnosis of severe PE was 9.95 ng/ml (sensitivity of 93.8% and specificity of 98.8%). Conclusion: Maternal serum SESN2 levels are significantly higher in pregnancies complicated by severe PE than nonsevere PE and control groups. It could be a useful biomarker that can help in diagnosing severe PE.