Comparative and diagnostic evaluation of maternal serum prostasin in early-onset preeclampsia

We aimed to compare maternal serum prostasin levels between women with early-onset preeclampsia (PE) and healthy pregnant controls to establish pathophysiological differences. We also sought to evaluate the diagnostic performance of maternal serum prostasin as a potential biomarker for early-onset PE, including determination of optimal cutoff values for clinical application. This was a prospective case–control study including 43 pregnant women who were diagnosed with early-onset PE between 20 0/7 to 34 0/7 weeks of gestation from March to September 2022. Also, 45 healthy pregnant women were included in the control group. Demographic characteristics, complete blood count and biochemical parameters, and serum prostasin concentrations were documented. A receiver operating characteristic curve was generated to demonstrate the sensitivity and specificity of prostasin, and the optimal cutoff value was determined using the Youden index. The median maternal serum prostasin level was found to be significantly higher in the early-onset PE group (31.66 27.12–51.00 ng/mL) compared to the control group (22.33 16.03–25.89 ng/mL) with a P -value 26.44 ng/mL increases the risk of early-onset PE by approximately 20-fold. Maternal serum prostasin levels are significantly elevated in early-onset preeclamptic mothers compared to the healthy controls. These findings suggest that prostasin may play a role in early-onset PE pathophysiology and could serve as a biomarker for its diagnosis.