Urinary podocyte excretion as a marker for preeclampsia

• Published in: American journal of obstetrics and gynecology Vol. 196; no. 4; pp. 320.e1 - 320.e7
• Main Authors: Garovic, Vesna D., Wagner, Steven J., Turner, Stephen T., Rosenthal, David W., Watson, William J., Brost, Brian C., Rose, Carl H., Gavrilova, Larisa, Craigo, Paula, Bailey, Kent R., Achenbach, Johannes, Schiffer, Mario, Grande, Joseph P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Mosby, Inc 01.04.2007
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Biomarkers - urine; Case-Control Studies; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disease Progression; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Obstetrics and Gynecology; podocyte; Podocytes - secretion; podocyturia; Pre-Eclampsia - diagnosis; Pre-Eclampsia - urine; preeclampsia; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Outcome; Reference Values; Risk Assessment; ROC Curve; Sensitivity and Specificity; Severity of Illness Index; podocyturia; podocyte; preeclampsia
• ISSN: 0002-9378; 1097-6868; 1097-6868
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2007.02.007

The objective of this study was to examine whether podocyturia, which is the urinary excretion of viable podocytes (glomerular epithelial cells), is present in urinary sediments of patients with preeclampsia. We also aimed to compare the test characteristics of podocyturia to those angiogenic factors that have been shown to play an important role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia (s-Flt-1, PlGF, and endoglin). Serum angiogenic factors were measured in 44 patients with preeclampsia and 23 normotensive control patients. In a patient subset (15 cases and 16 control patients), urinary proteinuria were identified and quantified on the basis of their expressions of podocyte-specific proteins. Urinary podocyte excretion occurred in all patients with preeclampsia. The positive predictive value for the diagnosis of preeclampsia was greater for podocyturia than for any of the measured angiogenic factors. Podocyturia is a highly sensitive and specific marker for preeclampsia. It may contribute to the development of proteinuria in preeclampsia.