SERUM TOTAL SIALIC ACID LEVELS AND SIALIC ACID ACETYL ESTERASE GENE VARIATION IN PATIENTS WITH PREECLAMPSIA

Objective: To evaluate the role of serum total sialic acid (SA) levels and sialic acid acetyl esterase (SIAE) gene variation in etiopathogenesis of preeclampsia (PE). Design: Prospective study Setting: Gaziantep Üniversity, Medical School, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Patients: This study was performed with 57 preeclamptic pregnant women and 50 pregnant women having no medical problems who has admitted to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Gaziantep University Medical Faculty between January 2008 and June 2008 Main outcome measures: Serum total SA levels were measured by Denny's colorimetric method and analysis of SIAE gene variation was performed by polymerase chain reaction -single stranded conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP). Statistical analyses were achieved using the SPSS 13.0 software. P<0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: In this study, we observed higher serum total SA levels in PE (p<0.00001) and increased PE risk 10.4 times by SIAE gene variation. There was a weak-intermediate correlation between serum SA levels and diastolic blood pressure, uric acid levels (p=0.0001, r=0.34; p=0.0001, r=0.37 respectively). There was a strong correlation between serum SA levels and proteinuria (p=0.001, r=0.5). There was a significant association between SIAE gene variation and proteinuria (393±238 vs 107±185 mg\L, p= 0.021) , diastolic blood pressure (102.7±21.9 vs 85.7±20.6 mmHg, p=0.01). Conclusions: Further studies to reveal the importance of measurement of serum total SA levels in early pregnancy or preconceptional analysis of SIAE gene variation for prediction of PE are needed