Pre-Eclampsia Comorbid with HIV Infection Mimics the Release of sVCAM-1, sICAM-1, and sE-Selectin in African Women

Endothelial activation and cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) are exacerbated in the interaction of HIV infection and pre-eclampsia. This study compares the levels of soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), and E-selectin (sE-selectin) in HIV-infected normotensive pregnant versus pre-eclamptic women. We investigated the plasma concentration of sVCAM-1, sICAM-1, and sE-selectin in normotensive pregnant women (<i>n</i> = 40) and pre-eclamptic women (<i>n</i> = 40) using an immunoassay procedure. The concentrations of both sVCAM-1 (<i>p</i> < 0.0083) and sE-selectin (<i>p</i> < 0.0260) were significantly different from sICAM-1 in pre-eclampsia compared to normotensive pregnant groups, irrespective of HIV status. In contrast to sVCAM-1, sICAM-1 (<i>p</i> = 0.0349) and sE-selectin (<i>p</i> < 0.0445) concentrations were significantly elevated in HIV-positive compared to HIV-negative groups, regardless of pregnancy type. In pregnancies complicated by HIV, statistically significant differences in ICAM-1 concentration were observed between pre-eclamptic HIV-positive versus pre-eclamptic HIV-negative groups (<i>p</i> < 0.0010). Similarly, sVCAM-1 levels differed significantly between pre-eclamptic HIV-negative and normotensive HIV-positive groups (<i>p</i> < 0.0139). In contrast, sE-selectin levels varied significantly between pre-eclamptic HIV-positive versus normotensive HIV-negative groups (<i>p</i> < 0.0485). We report a dysregulation of sICAM-1, sVCAM-1, and SE-selectin in the co-morbidity of pre-eclampsia in pregnant women living with HIV. This differential expression may be attributed to oxidative stress emanating from the hypoxic endothelial activation in both pre-eclampsia and HIV infection and exacerbated by the immune restorative action of antiretroviral therapy.