Potential urine biomarkers for gestational hypertension and preeclampsia

Differential proteomic technology was used to identify urine proteomic profile of gestational hypertension and preeclampsia. Urine samples were collected from 10 patients with gestational hypertension, 10 patients with mild preeclampsia, 10 patients with severe preeclampsia and 10 normal pregnancies and analyzed by 2-D difference gel electrophoresis, then matrix assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry was used to identify differential proteins. Subsequently, ELISA was used to verify the content variation of the identified proteins in 200 urine samples. In total, 30 differential proteins were identified. For prostaglandin-H2 D-isomerase (L-PGDS), perlecan and other 15 proteins, the contents in patients with gestational hypertension were higher than that of normal pregnancies, but lower in mild and severe preeclampsia. By contrast, serum albumin and α-1-antitrypsin was lower in samples from patients with gestational hypertension and higher in patients with mild and severe preeclampsia compared with normal pregnancies. ELISA verified that the urinary concentration of L-PGDS and perlecan were significantly lower in patients with preeclampsia than in normal pregnancies (P<0.05). Urine proteomics is a useful tool to identify potential biomarkers to distinguish between different types of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy. L-PGDS and perlecan could potentially be used as markers to reflect the state of renal function, and may participate in the genesis and development of renal injury during preeclampsia.