Circulating Levels of Heat Shock Protein 70 in Women With Preeclampsia and Healthy Controls

Background: Pathophysiology of preeclampsia has remained unknown. Excessive maternal systemic inflammatory response to pregnancy along with systemic oxidative stress is one of the underlying theories. Extracellular HSP70 produced from stressed and damaged cells may be involved in the elaboration of maternal systemic inflammatory response. Objectives: In this regard, we investigated the circulating levels of 70-kiloDalton heat shock protein (Hsp70) in patients with preeclampsia, as well as healthy pregnant women. Patients and Methods: The study performed during a 6-month-period in Zeinabieh Hospital of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. We recruited 31 patients with preeclampsia and 31 healthy normotensive pregnant controls (age and ethnicity matched). The serum levels of Hsp70 were measured in all patients and controls and the values were compared between groups. We also compared Hsp70 levels between severe and mild preeclampsia cases. Results: The mean age of the patients was 27.5 ± 6.3 (range 21 - 42) years, which was comparable to control group 27.7 ± 7.2 (range 19 - 45) years (P = 0.925). The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure was significantly higher in those with preeclampsia compared to healthy controls (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference between the two study groups regarding the circulating levels of Hsp70 (P = 0.310). We found that the systolic blood pressure was positively associated with gestational age in those with preeclampsia (r = 0.397, P = 0.027). However, there was no correlation between circulating levels of Hsp70 and baseline characteristics as well as blood pressure parameters. Conclusions: Circulating levels of Hsp70 are not associated with preeclampsia and increased blood pressure in pregnancy. Further studies on the role of heat shock proteins in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia and gestational hypertension is recommended.