Preliminary study of human serum albumin level in early warning onset of preeclampsia

Objective: To observe the dynamic changes of human serum albumin (HSA) level during pregnancy and study the early warning significance of HSA level on the onset of preeclampsia (PE) . Methods: Totally 369 PE pregnant women (PE group) and 309 normal pregnant women (control group) without PE who admitted in Haidian Maternal and Child Health Hospital from January 2013 to December 2017 were selected. HSA levels were tested before meeting the criterion of PE in the first trimester, the early-third trimester and the late-third trimester, the difference between the two groups were compared. The relationship between the HSA level and the incidence of complications in PE patients was analyzed. Results: (1)The mean values of HSA level in PE group and control group were (41.9+/-3.1) versus (40.0+/-2.2) g/L, (34.2+/-2.7) versus (35.4+/-2.7) g/L and (33.7+/-2.9) versus (36.7+/-3.3) g/L in the first trimester,the early-third trimester and the late-third trimester respectively,the difference in the first trimester was no significance (P>0.05), while the differences in the early-third trimester and the late-third trimester were both significant (all P<0.05). (2) The HSA level during pregnancy of PE group showed a continuous downward trend, while the control group was V-shaped trend. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that PE could be early warned by the decrease of HSA level in PE group [area under curve (AUC)=0.742, cut-off value=5.97 g/L, sensitivity 70.8%, specificity 62.8%], the same result was in severe PE (AUC=0.756, cut-off value=6.85 g/L, sensitivity 70.8%, specificity 72.0%). The level of HSA was negatively correlated with the incidence of complications (r=-0.19, P<0.01). Conclusions: Excessive decrease of HSA level is an early warning factor for PE onset. The higher the baseline of HSA level and the greater the extent of pregnancy decline, the risk of PE in pregnant women is higher. The lower of HSA level in PE, the incidence of complications is higher. The excessive decrease of HSA level may be the first clinical manifestation before the onset of clinical symptoms of PE, so it may be the warning factor and one of the laboratory indicators in the PE sub-clinical stage.