The Relationship between Soluble Endoglin Levels, Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase Levels, and Thrombocyte Count and the Onset of Preeclampsia

Early-onset preeclampsia, or EOP, depicts clear placental abnormalities (placental factor), whereas late-onset preeclampsia, or LOP, does not. However, previous studies found varying results on the role of proangiogenic and antiangiogenic factors, including soluble endoglin (sEng), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), and thrombocytes in both types of preeclampsia.

This study aimed to determine the relationship between sEng levels, eNOS levels, and thrombocyte count with the onset of preeclampsia.

A cross-sectional study was conducted on subjects diagnosed with severe preeclampsia receiving treatment at Dr. M. Djamil Hospital Padang from December, 2023, until March, 2024. After meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria, maternal plasma concentrations of sEng and eNOS were determined by ELISA, while thrombocytes were measured by a complete blood count.

A total of 40 women with EOP and 40 with LOP participated in this study. This study found no difference between the two groups in eNOS (p = 0.303) and sEng (p = 0.468). However, thrombocyte count differed between early and late-onset PE (p = 0.001). Spearman correlation analysis found a significant correlation between eNOS and sEng (p = 0.033), eNOS and thrombocyte count (p = 0.026), and thrombocyte count and sEng (p = 0.032).

This study found no difference in proangiogenic and antiangiogenic factors between EOP and LOP, which suggests that a subset of patients with LOP also has an imbalance in the concentrations of proangiogenic and antiangiogenic factors in maternal plasma. However, lower thrombocyte counts in EOP reflect a more severe disease course. This study also found a correlation between eNOS and sEng, eNOS and thrombocyte count, and thrombocyte count and sEng in preeclampsia.