A STUDY ON MATERNAL SERUM TOTAL THIOLS AND HIGHLY SENSITIVE C-REACTIVE PROTEIN AS INDICATORS OF OXIDATIVE STRESS AND INFLAMMATION IN PREECLAMPSIA AND THEIR CORRELATION WITH OPHTHALMIC MANIFESTATIONS.

Corresponding Author:
Tanima Mandal,
C/o. Sudip Kumar Saha,
Sarat Apartment, Block-B,
Flat No. 302, 160, B. K. Street,
Uttarpara, Hooghly-712258,
West Bengal, India.
E-mail: tanima.saha01@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Preeclampsia is a serious pregnancy specific complication, the etiopathogenesis of which is still obscure in many aspects, despite improvements in diagnosis and treatment. Preeclampsia can be associated with ophthalmic manifestations, as part of end organ damage and the role of oxidative stress and inflammation in the pathogenesis of eye changes was evaluated in this study. We wanted to determine the serum levels of total thiol as a measure of oxidative stress and highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) as a measure of systemic inflammation and compare these parameters with that of normal pregnancy, to assess the relevance of these parameters in causing eye changes in preeclampsia.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was done with 33 patients of preeclampsia (21 patients of non-severe preeclampsia and 12 patients of severe preeclampsia) and 25 individuals of normal pregnancy who served as controls. Serum total thiols and hs-CRP were measured in these three groups and the values compared. Correlation between total thiol and hs-CRP with age, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and retinopathy was done using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Analysis of variance was done to find out the effect of severity of preeclampsia on systolic and diastolic blood pressure, retinopathy, total thiols and hs-CRP among the pregnant participants.

RESULTS

Serum total thiol levels were lower and serum hs-CRP was higher than the control group, with p <0.01. Correlation analysis showed a very significant positive association of retinopathy with systolic BP, diastolic BP and serum hs-CRP level (p<0.01) and a negative correlation with serum total thiol levels (p<0.01). Systolic BP correlated positively with diastolic BP (p< 0.01) and hs-CRP correlated negatively with serum total thiol (p<0.01). Computed F values of all variables reveals that there is a significant difference among mothers with normal pregnancies (n=25), non- severe preeclampsia (n=21) and severe preeclampsia (n=12) with respect to systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, retinopathy, hs-CRP and total thiols at p<0.01 level of significance.

CONCLUSIONS

An increased level of serum total thiol and hs-CRP was found in preeclampsia and severe preeclampsia as compared to normal pregnancy, that correlated with retinopathy. Total thiols and hs-CRP can be useful in the prediction and diagnosis of preeclamptic retinopathy.

KEY WORDS

Preeclampsia, Total Thiols, hs- CRP, Oxidative Stress, Retinopathy