Serum Levels of N-Terminal Pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide in Gestational Hypertension, Mild Preeclampsia, and Severe Preeclampsia: A Study from a Center in Zhejiang Province, China

BACKGROUND: Pre-eclampsia is one of the primary causes of maternal and newborn mortality. The pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia is still unclear. We aimed to investigate the link between serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels and pre-eclampsia. MATERIAL/METHODS: A total of 102 pregnant women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy who were hospitalized and delivered in Wenzhou People’s Hospital from January 2019 to December 2019 were selected, including 43 patients with gestational hypertension, 32 patients with mild pre-eclampsia, and 27 patients with severe pre-eclampsia. Enzyme-linked fluorescence analysis was used to detect the serum NT-proBNP levels of the patients before delivery. We used the t test and ANOVA to compare differences between groups. Receiver operating curve (ROC) and the Youden index were used to evaluate the detection efficiency. RESULTS: The average level of serum NT-proBNP in patients with mild pre-eclampsia was 197.12±105.80 pg/mL, which was significantly higher than that of patients with gestational hypertension (48.98±32.45 pg/mL) (P<0.05). Serum NT-proBNP in patients with severe pre-eclampsia (851.04±879.85 pg/mL) was higher than that in patients with moderate pre-eclampsia (P<0.05). The area under the ROC curve for diagnosing pre-eclampsia using NT-proBNP was 0.973, with NT-proBNP of 129.5 pg/mL as the cut-off value. The Youden index was 0.824, with a sensitivity for predicting pre-eclampsia of 84.7% and a specificity of 97.7%. CONCLUSIONS: The level of serum NT-proBNP was as an effective indicator for predicting pre-eclampsia and judging the risk of pre-eclampsia.