Cystatin-C as a Marker for Renal Impairment in Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a devastating pregnancy-associated disorder characterized by the onset of hypertension, proteinuria, and edema with limited plausible pathophysiology known. Cystatin-C, a novel marker for the detection of renal impairment, is increased in preeclampsia at an early stage. This study was aimed to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of Cystatin-C as an early marker of renal function in preeclampsia comparing it to the traditional renal markers. A hospital based comparative cross-sectional study was performed on 104 women (52 diagnosed cases of preeclampsia and 52 healthy pregnant women). Concentrations of Cystatin-C, creatinine, urea, and uric acid were measured in both the study groups. Mean serum Cystatin-C and uric acid levels were elevated in preeclampsia cases compared to controls (1.15 ± 0.37 versus 0.55 ± 0.12; 5.40 ± 1.44 versus 3.97 ± 0.68, resp.). ROC curve depicted that Cystatin-C had the highest diagnostic efficiency (sensitivity, 88.24%; specificity, 98.04%) compared to creatinine and uric acid. Serum Cystatin-C consequently seemed to closely reflect the renal functional changes, which are believed to lead to increased blood pressure levels and urinary excretion of albumin and may thus function as a marker for the stage of the transition between normal adaptive renal changes at term and preeclampsia.