Journal of Hypertension: Open Access

The Progression of Serum Prorenin Concentration during Pregnancy

Abstract

Yukiko Mikami, Tatsuya Narita, Yasushi Takai, Kazunori Baba, Hiroyuki Seki and Kikumi Matsuoka

Objective: An association between the renin-angiotensin system and the pathogenesis of pregnancy-induced hypertension has been reported. The prorenin receptor was discovered in 2002, and Wanatabe et al. reported that women with plasma soluble prorenin receptor concentrations above the 75th percentile at delivery had a significantly increased risk of preeclampsia. We evaluated serum prorenin concentrations during pregnancy, and we assessed the incidence of pregnancy-induced hypertension.

Methods: We measured serum prorenin concentrations in 430 pregnant women (565 samples). Regression analysis was performed to determine the associations between the serum prorenin level and maternal/neonatal complications.

Results: The serum prorenin concentration and gestational age had a positive correlation in non-pregnancyinduced hypertension in women with singleton pregnancies (Spearman rank-correlation coefficient, -0.215: p<0.0001). The serum prorenin concentration in women with multiple pregnancies was significantly higher than that in women with singleton pregnancies (multiple linear regression analysis, p<0.0001). Low prorenin levels in the third trimester (≤20.1 percentile) were significantly associated with pregnancy-induced hypertension (adjusted odds ratio, 18.16: 95% confidential interval, 1.95-412.41: p=0.0107).

Conclusion: The serum prorenin levels during pregnancy may be adversely correlated with the prorenin receptor, and low prorenin levels during late pregnancy were significantly associated with pregnancy-induced hypertension.