Suppression of serum vascular endothelial growth factor immunoreactivity in normal pregnancy and in pre-eclampsia

Objective To determine whether vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) concentrations are altered in pre-eclampsia. Design Serum was prepared from peripheral venous blood and stored at -70 degrees C. Serum VEGF concentrations were measured by ELISA. Setting University of Glasgow Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Infirmary, Glasgow. Participants Twenty-two healthy nonpregnant volunteer women, 34 normal pregnant women and 34 women with pre-eclampsia were studied. Results Serum concentrations of VEGF were significantly lower in normal pregnant women (median value 12.89 pg/mL) than in nonpregnant women (median value 166 pg/mL; P < 0.0001). In preeclampsia VEGF concentrations were significantly lower (median value 2.34 pg/mL) than normal pregnancies (P < 0.0001). Postpartum concentrations of VEGF in the group complicated by preeclampsia (median value 76.42 pg/mL) were not significantly different from nonpregnant values (P = 0.2). Conclusions Our results show that serum concentrations of VEGF are suppressed in pregnancy and further reduced in pre-eclampsia. Further studies to elucidate the mechanisms which lead to a reduction in VEGF concentrations may provide new clues to the aetiology of this disorder.