Abstract:

Purpose: The purpose of our study was to investigate whether maternal serum levels of androgens, especially testosterone, are higher in patients with preeclampsia than in matched normotensive control subjects. Material and Methods: A prospective study was performed on 67 preeclamptic patients and 51 normotensive pregnant women. Study group was assessed for presence of preeclampsia and the values of serum free testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate. The receiver operator curve was used to evaluate cut-off, sensitivity and specificity values. Results: Free testosterone levels were significantly higher in patients with preeclampsia (2.36±1.2 pg/ml) than the control group (1.62±0.96 pg/ml) but there was no significant difference in dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels. The optimal cut-off point to predict preeclampsia was a 2.025 pg/ml or higher levels for free testosteron with a sensitivity of 56%, specificity of 78.4%, positive predictive value of 71.8%, negative predictive value of 64.5% and with a likelihood ratio of 2.6. Discussion: Levels of the potent androgen free testosterone were significantly higher in women with preeclampsia than in normotensive women with similar maternal ages. Although the statistical analysis revealed that these markers were weak predictors of preeclampsia to be used in clinical practice the difference may indicate a role for testosterone in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.

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