Placental soluble fms-like tyrosine-kinase-1 (sFlt-1) in pregnant women with preeclampsia.

UNLABELLED: The pathophysiology of preeclampsia remains largely unknown. A number of circulating placenta-produced factors have been implicated in causing the endothelial dysfunction and the clinical phenotype characteristic of preeclampsia. AIM: Determination of serum levels of placental soluble fms-like tyrosine-kinase-1 (sFlt-1) in pregnant women with preeclampsia. Eleven pregnant women with preeclampsia and 11 healthy women (controls) were included in the study. Determination of sFlt-1 was done with ELISA. The mean serum sFlt-1 levels of pregnant women with preeclampsia were twice as high as that of women with normal pregnancy. The highest level of sFlt-1 was found in women with severe preeclampsia. In women with mild form of preeclampsia the sFlt-1 level was close to that of the controls. sFlt-1 appears to be involved in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia and its serum levels can be used as a diagnostic marker of preeclampsia.