Purpose: to investigate the association between serum C-reactive protein concentration and preeclampsia occurrence, as well as its relation to the disease severity. Patients and Methods: twenty-seven preeclamptic pregnant women and 27 pregnant women with no clinical intercurrences, in the third trimester of pregnancy, were evaluated in a transversal case-control study. Serum C-reactive protein dosage, besides clinical examination and laboratory tests for the diagnosis of the disease, were performed in the antenatal period. The association between C-reactive protein and the presence of preeclampsia, and the correlation between plasma protein values and blood pressure values were investigated. The chi² significance test and regression analysis through the square minimum technique were used, and the results were considered to be statistically significant when p<0.05. Results: the preeclamptic pregnant women presented mean blood pressure levels higher than their controls (129.9±12.1 and 87.2±6.5 mmHg, respectively) and significantly higher C-reactive protein mean values than the normotensive women (18.9±4.9 and 1.56±0.8 mg/L, respectively). There was a significant association between the C-reactive protein concentration increase and preeclampsia occurrence (p<0.0001, odds ratio: 20.1). It was also observed that the mean arterial pressure and proteinuria presented a direct correlation with the circulating C-reactive protein in maternal blood (p=0.001 and p<0.001, respectively). Conclusion: C-reactive protein is an effective marker of preeclampsia occurrence and significantly correlates with the disease severity. The use of this test for the differential diagnosis of pregnant women in several hypertensive situations and its utilization as a marker of preeclampsia prognosis deserve further studies.
Hypertension; C-reactive protein; Proteinuria
