LEVELS OF HOMOCYSTEINE, FOLATES, AND VITAMIN B 12 IN THE BLOOD OF PREGNANT WOMEN WITH PREECLAMPSIA

Objective. To study a relationship between the blood levels of folates and vitamin B 12 to the plasma concentrations of homocysteine in pregnant women with preeclampsia (PE). Subjects and methods. Seventy-nine pregnant women at 28—35 weeks’ gestation were examined; out of them 29 women with normal pregnancy formed a control group, 32 and 18 had moderate and severe PE, respectively. Plasma homocysteine levels were measured using an IMx polarized fluorescence immunoanalyzer and IMx Homocysteine assay kits (Abbott Laboratories). The red blood cell and plasma levels of folic acid and vitamin B 12 were measured by a competitive chemoluminescence technique (Immulite 2000-BIODPC, USA). Results. As compared to the control group, the pregnant women with PE were shown to have much higher blood homocysteine levels. At this time, there was a direct relationship between homocysteine concentrations and PE severity. Conversely, the latter was found to depend inversely on the plasma and red blood cell levels of folates. The concentration of vitamin B 12 showed a similar trend. There was an inverse relationship between homocysteine and folate levels. At the same time the greatest folate reduction was seen in pregnant women having homocysteine concentrations more than 7μmol/l. Conclusion. It was shown that there was a direct correlation between the blood homocysteine levels in the pregnant women and the severity of PE. Moreover, there was an inverse correlation between the blood concentrations of homocysteine and B-group vitamin.

preeclampsia, homocysteine, folate, vitamin B