Lack of an association between first‐trimester concentration of mid‐regional pro‐atrial natriuretic peptide and risk of early‐onset preeclampsia <34 weeks' gestation.

Aim: We examined the heart failure biomarker mid‐regional pro‐atrial natriuretic peptide during the first trimester of pregnancy in relation to early‐onset preeclampsia <34 weeks. Materials and Methods: This case–control study included 34 women with singleton pregnancies with a preeclampsia diagnosis and delivery before 34 weeks of gestation who had attended the routine first‐trimester ultrasound scan at 11–13+6 weeks of gestation between August 2010 and October 2015 at the Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Denmark, and 91 uncomplicated singleton pregnancies matched by time of the routine first‐trimester blood sampling at 8–13+6 weeks. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed for maternal characteristics and obstetric and medical history for the case versus the control group. Concentrations of mid‐regional pro‐atrial natriuretic peptide, placental growth factor, soluble fms‐like tyrosine kinase‐1, and pregnancy‐associated plasma protein A between early‐onset preeclampsia cases and the control group were compared using Students t‐test and the Mann–Whitney U test. Biochemical marker concentrations were converted into multiples of the expected median values after adjustment for gestational age. Results: Mid‐regional pro‐atrial natriuretic peptide levels were not significantly different between early‐onset preeclampsia cases and the control group in the first trimester of pregnancy. As expected, both placental growth factor and pregnancy‐associated plasma protein A levels were significantly lower in early‐onset preeclampsia, whereas soluble fms‐like tyrosine kinase‐1 levels were not statistically significantly different. Conclusion: The maternal first‐trimester concentration of mid‐regional pro‐atrial natriuretic peptide, a peptide with multiple biological functions including a relation to cardiovascular disease, was not significantly different in women with early‐onset preeclampsia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]