Maternal Serum Placental Growth Factor (PIGF) Isoforms 1 and 2 at 11-13 Weeks' Gestation in Normal and Pathological Pregnancies

Objective: To compare the maternal serum concentration of placental growth factor-1 (PIGF-1) and PIGF-2 at 11-13 weeks' gestation in normal pregnancies and in those complicated by preeclampsia (PE), delivery of small for gestational age (SGA) neonates and fetal trisomies 21, 18 and 13. Methods: Serum PIGF-1 and PIGF-2 were measured in 270 pathological pregnancies (PE, n = 80; SGA, n = 80; trisomy 21, n = 44; trisomy 18, n = 38; trisomy 13, n = 28) and 590 normal controls. The values were expressed as multiple of the median (MoM) after adjustment for maternal characteristics and corrected for adverse pregnancy outcomes and the median MoM values in each pathological pregnancy were compared to the normal group. Results: There were significant contributions to PIGF-1 and PIGF-2 from gestational age, smoking and racial origin. In addition, there were significant contributions to PIGF-1 from parity and method of conception. The median MoM of PIGF-1 and PIGF-2 was significantly decreased in PE (0.783 and 0.916 MoM), SGA (0.891 and 0.851 MoM), trisomy 21 (0.609 and 0.749 MoM), trisomy 18 (0.529 and 0.730 MoM) and trisomy 13 (0.373 and 0.699 MoM). Conclusions: In pathological pregnancies, except SGA, the decrease in serum PIGF-1 at 11-13 weeks' gestation is more marked than the decrease in PIGF-2. (C) 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel