Diagnostic ability of hepcidin in predicting fetal outcome in preeclampsia

Low birth weight and prematurity are the major contributors to neonatal mortality and morbidity. Preeclampsia which is associated with both maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity is a major contributor to such poor fetal outcomes. Hepcidin an acute phase peptide hormone gets elevated in conditions of iron overload, inflammation, infections, and cytotoxicity. Hepcidin levels can get elevated in pregnancies with such pathologies which invariably will be having a poor fetal outcome. To study the role of hepcidin as a diagnostic marker in predicting a poor fetal outcome. A cross-sectional study with follow up was carried out in a South Indian Tamil population. Forty healthy pregnant women and forty preeclampsia patients were recruited between the gestational age of 34 ± 4 weeks and followed up till delivery. Serum levels of hepcidin were analyzed for all the participants and comparisons were done between preeclampsia and healthy pregnancies as well as between pregnancies with good and poor fetal outcomes. Fetal outcome variables such as birth weight, gestational age at the time of delivery and NICU admission status of the newborn were collected during the follow-up period. ROC curves were constructed to determine the ability of maternal serum hepcidin levels in predicting poor fetal outcomes with good sensitivity, specificity and likelihood ratios. Maternal hepcidin levels were found to be significantly elevated in preeclampsia patients (<i>p</i> p Above a cut off level of 615 pg/ml and at the gestational age of 34 ± 4 weeks, maternal hepcidin levels were able to predict poor fetal outcomes such as low birth weight, preterm delivery, and NICU admission.