Serum uric acid may not be involved in the development of preeclampsia

Higher serum levels of uric acid are associated with preeclampsia and may signal an early change in preeclampsia. However there is less evidence suggesting there is a meaningful association between uric acid and the development of preeclampsia. A total of 877 women with preeclampsia at presentation and 580 normotensive pregnancies were retrospectively recruited from January 2009 to May 2014. In addition, 5556 pregnant women were also prospectively recruited from September 2012 to December 2013. Retrospective serum levels of uric acid were obtained from women with preeclampsia at the time of presentation (n = 877), and serum levels of uric acid in the first, second and third trimester were prospectively collected in women who later developed preeclampsia (n = 78), as well as those who did not (n = 5478). The serum levels of uric acid were significantly increased in women with preeclampsia at presentation from retrospective samples and this increase correlated with the time of onset and the severity of preeclampsia. However, in prospective samples, serum levels of uric acid were not increased in the first and second trimesters in women who later developed preeclampsia compared with those who did not. The serum level of uric acid in the first and second trimesters in women who developed preeclampsia was not different. Our results demonstrate that the serum levels of uric acid were only increased after the presentation of clinical symptoms of preeclampsia. Therefore, it is likely that uric acid is not involved in the development of preeclampsia and cannot be an early prediction biomarker of this disease.