Maternal Serum Surfactant Protein-D (SP-D) levels in pregnancies complicated with mild and severe preeclampsia: A case control study

Objective: Considering that preeclampsia is a systemic disease that affects nearly all systems and end organs, it is likely that the maternal pul- monary arteries and maternal alveoli are also affected by this condition. Therefore, in the present study we aimed to evaluate maternal serum surfactant protein D (SP-D) levels in pregnancies complicated by mild and severe preeclampsia. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we engaged 90 pregnant women between 18 and 40 years old who were divided into the following two groups: control (n: 30) and mild preeclampsia (n: 30) and severe preeclampsia (n: 30).Maternal serum SP-D level was the main outcome of the study. Maternal serum SP-D levels were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Results: Maternal characteristics of the groups were statistically similar between the groups. The maternal serum SP-D level was 39.16 ± 31.6 ng/mL in the control group, 21.28 ± 14.07 ng/mL in the mild preeclampsia group and 19.83 ± 19.59 ng/mL in severe preeclampsia group. The maternal serum SP-D levels were statistically decreased in mild and severe preeclampsia group compared to control group (p: 0.002). The maternal serum SP-D level was statistically similar between mild preeclampsia group to severe preeclampsia group (p: 0.967). Conclusion: This results indicated that maternal type II cells and Clara cells in the alveoli were adversely affected by mild and severe pre- eclampsia. In further studies that evaluate types I-II alveolar and Clara cell damage will show the clinical significance of the present findings more clearly.