Investigation of angiopoietin-like protein 4 and vascular endothelial growth factor-A levels in preeclampsia patients

Preeclampsia is one of the most important complications in obstetrics. It affects 2-8% of pregnancies. It is defined as hypertension and proteinuria that occur after the 20th week of pregnancy, but the current situation is more than hypertension and proteinuria, it is a multisystemic and complex syndrome that concerns the whole body. Every year, approximately 50,000 mothers and 900,000 babies die due to preeclampsia and its complications, which means approximately 12% of all maternal deaths. The onset and clinical course of the disease is unpredictable. Therefore, powerful tools are needed in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Angiopoietin-like proteins are expressed in many tissues in the human body. They have important roles in angiogenesis, inflammation, lipid and glucose metabolism and wound healing. . Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), another protein that functions in association with angiopoietin-like proteins, is the most studied factor of all growth factors. It is also known as vascular permeability factor or vasculotropin. Five isoforms have been identified. These are VEGF-A, B, C, D, E. Each member of the VEGF family seems to have a specific function. VEGF-A plays a role in cytokine release and synthesis, thrombolytic and coagulation pathways in endothelial cells. It has the property of increasing vascular permeability in small blood vessels.VEGF-A plays an active role in the control of angiogenesis in many events such as wound healing, ovulation, menstruation, regulation of blood pressure and pregnancy in addition to physiological vasculogenesis, which is active during embryonal development. ANGPTL4 and VEGF-A, which are thought to have important roles in the maintenance of physiological angiogenesis and endothelial functions, have been found remarkable in elucidating the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. In our study, it was found that angiopoietin like protein 4 (ANGPTL4) and vascular endothelial growth factor-a levels significantly changed in pregnant women complicated with preeclampsia compared to pregnant women diagnosed with gestational hypertension and healthy pregnant women (p <0.001). Keywords: angiopoietin like protein 4, vascular endothelial growth factor-a, preeclampsia, pregnant, angiogenesis, vascular permeability.