Elevated levels of serum uric acid, creatinine or urea in preeclamptic women

Abstract

Background: Hypertensive disorders of human pregnancy, such as preeclampsia, complicate a sizeable percentage of all pregnancies, needing its early indication and warning. Aims & Objective: To measure and compare serum uric acid, serum creatinine and serum urea in pre-eclamptic and normotensive groups. Material and Methods: This is a cross-sectional, hospital based study involving 105 age-matched women of South India (devoid of diabetes, urinary tract infections, renal or liver disorders), all in their third trimester singleton pregnancy, at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department of Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Hospital, Chennai, India during the period of December 2008 to July 2009. The data were collected following standard procedures and statistical analysis was done using unpaired t-test. Results: The levels of serum uric acid and serum creatinine, expressed in mg/ dL were significantly elevated in pre-eclamptics respectively (5.29 ± 0.84 and 0.72 ± 0.387) when compared to normotensives (3.86 ± 0.92 and 0.58 ± 0.283). There was a statistically insignificant and small increase in serum urea level in pre-eclamptics (28.07 ± 4.97) compared to normotensives (26.46 ± 3.55). There was a lack of any correlation between the positive differences in the values of each parameter with the extent of corresponding raised blood pressure. Conclusion: The elevated values of uncorrelated serum uric acid, serum creatinine or serum urea thus precludes them to be useful for consideration as consistent predictive indicator(s) for preeclampsia or pregnancy related hypertension.