Placental prostate-specific antigen content in preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia is a multisystem disorder that can manifest clinically with hypertension and proteinuria. Previous studies reported the presence of placental PSA in normal pregnancy but no study has been done in preeclampsia. The aim of this study was to investigate PSA content in preeclampsia. Preeclampsia was diagnosed according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists criteria. Placentas were obtained from 33 preeclamptic and 34 normotensive women. Placenta samples were homogenized and the supernatants were immediately analyzed. The tissue PSA content was measured by Immulite 2000 PSA assay. The data were analyzed with Student's t-test and Pearson correlation test. There was a significant difference in placental PSA content between preeclamptic and normotensive women. Placental content of PSA was higher in the preeclamptic group with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) than in the preeclamptic and normotensive pregnant without IUGR groups. No significant difference was found in this respect between preeclamptic and normotensive women without IUGR. In conclusion, we found that placental PSA content is elevated in preeclampsia and negatively correlated with infant birth weight. Further studies will be necessary to define the roles of PSA more precisely and to examine its effects on the pathophysiology of preeclampsia.