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CC BY 4.0 · AJP Rep 2025; 15(01): e36-e42
DOI: 10.1055/a-2555-1742
Original Article

Maternal PlGF and sFlt-1 are Associated with Low Birth Weight and/or Small-for-Gestational Age Neonates in Pregnancy with or without Preeclampsia

Wenbo Luo
1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, National Clinical Research Center for Obstetric and Gynecologic Diseases, Beijing, China
,
Pingping Tang
1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, National Clinical Research Center for Obstetric and Gynecologic Diseases, Beijing, China
,
Yan Lv
1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, National Clinical Research Center for Obstetric and Gynecologic Diseases, Beijing, China
,
Yijun Song
1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, National Clinical Research Center for Obstetric and Gynecologic Diseases, Beijing, China
,
Huiying Hu
1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, National Clinical Research Center for Obstetric and Gynecologic Diseases, Beijing, China
,
Jinsong Gao
1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, National Clinical Research Center for Obstetric and Gynecologic Diseases, Beijing, China
,
Juntao Liu
1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, National Clinical Research Center for Obstetric and Gynecologic Diseases, Beijing, China
› Author Affiliations Sources of Funding National Key Research and Development Program (2022YFC2704505),National High Level Hospital Clinical Research Funding(2022-PUMCH-B-075), CAMS Initiative for Innovative Medicine(2022-I2M-1-012).
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Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the association of PIGF and sFlt-1 with low birth weight and/or small-for-gestational age neonates in pregnancy with or without preeclampsia.

Methods

Singleton pregnancies with sFlt-1/PlGF tested were included and set into four groups for case–control analysis. Distribution of sFlt-1/PlGF, sFlt-1, PlGF, and PGF% were evaluated, Kruskal–Wallis test and Mann–Whitney U test were adopted for significance analysis.

Results

Maternal sFlt-1/PlGF, PlGF, PlGF%, and sFlt-1 were statistically associated with low birth weight and/or small-for-gestational age in pregnancy complicated or uncomplicated with preeclampsia. A significant difference was shown on sFlt-1/PIGF (p = 0.0082), PIGF% (p = 0.0326), PIGF (p = 0.0128), and sFlt-1 (p = 0.0469) in pregnancy with small-for-gestational age and/or low birth weight neonates. A significantly higher median of sFlt-1/PlGF (448 vs. 61.6, p < 0.0001) and sFlt-1 (15499 vs. 3226, p < 0.0001), a significantly lower median of PlGF (33.92 vs. 115.2, p < 0.0001) and PlGF% (−76.63 vs. −20.31, p < 0.0001) were demonstrated, respectively, when preeclampsia with small-for-gestational age and/or low birth weight neonates was compared with preeclampsia with normal birth weight neonates. No significant difference was demonstrated between low birth weight and small-for-gestational age on sFlt-1/PlGF, PlGF, PlGF%, and sFlt-1.

Conclusion

sFlt-1/PlGF seems to be a promising biomarker in predicting low birth weight and/or small-for-gestational age neonates in pregnancy with or without preeclampsia.

Keywords

placental growth factor - soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 - low birth weight - small-for-gestational age


Publication History

Received: 18 November 2024

Accepted: 13 December 2024

Accepted Manuscript online:
11 March 2025

Article published online:
31 March 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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