Plasma homocysteine in early and late pregnancies complicated with preeclampsia and isolated intrauterine growth restriction

Background. Elevated circulating homocysteine is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Increased homocysteine plasma levels have been reported to occur in approximately 20-30% of women with preeclampsia and it has been suggested that they may predict the subsequent development of preeclampsia. Methods. In a cohort of 1874 pregnant women followed longitudinally, who participated in the Down screening program, 27 developed preeclampsia and 36 intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). A control group of 63 uneventful pregnancies was selected. Plasma homocysteine was assayed in the early second trimester and at delivery in all groups. Data were compared with Wilcoxon's matched-pair test. Results. No statistically significant difference of plasma homocysteine between controls and preeclamptic or IUGR pregnancies in the early second trimester were found. There was a significant difference, only at delivery, between the preeclamptic subjects and the controls. Conclusions. We failed to demonstrate a plasma homocysteine predictive value in pregnancies subsequently complicated by preeclampsia and IUGR. As previously stated, we found that an elevated homocysteine plasma level is associated with overt preeclampsia.