Abstract

Pre-eclampsia is associated with both maternal and foetal complications. Several studies have shown increased trophoblast apoptosis in the placenta of women with this condition. The aim of this study was to investigate whether increased apoptosis can be detected as elevated levels of an apoptotic product in serum samples from women with pre-eclampsia. For this purpose, we used the M30-Apoptosense ELISA assay, which measures a neo-epitope of cytokeratin 18 that is exposed after cleavage by caspases during apoptosis of epithelial cells (M30 antigen). The M30-antigen concentrations were measured in the sera of 15 healthy pregnant women and 15 patients with pre-eclampsia (gestation weeks 24-34). Patients with pre-eclampsia had significantly higher serum M30-antigen concentrations, median 120 U/L, compared to 15 healthy pregnant women matched for pregnancy length, median 104 U/L (p = 0.01). This is consistent with previous findings of increased trophoblast apoptosis in women with pre-eclampsia and raises the possibility that M30-antigen can be used as a serum marker for the severeness of this condition for the mother and child.