Serum levels of insulin, IGF-1, and IGFBP-1 in pre-eclampsia and eclampsia.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate whether the serum concentrations of insulin, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) were altered in women with mild pre-eclampsia, severe pre-eclampsia, and eclampsia.

METHODS

In this prospective study, we investigated 20 mild pre-eclamptic, 20 severe pre-eclamptic, and 20 eclamptic patients in the third trimester. The control group consisted of 20 healthy pregnant women. Serum levels of insulin, IGF-1, and IGFBP-1 were measured.

RESULTS

In patients with eclampsia, serum levels of IGF-1 were lower, and IGFBP-1 were higher, respectively, than control and other study groups (P<0.001) The values of IGF-1 in mild pre-eclampsia and severe pre-eclampsia were lower compared with control groups (both P<0.01), but there were no differences between mild and severe pre-eclampsia. The serum levels of IGFBP-1 in severe pre-eclampsia were higher compared with control groups (P<0.01), but there was no statistical difference between mild pre-eclampsia and other groups.

CONCLUSIONS

IGF-1 was lower, and IGFBP-1 was higher in pre-eclamptic and eclamptic patients than controls, these alterations were related to the severity of pre-eclampsia.