What is in common between preeclampsia, HPS70 and medieval headwear? Part I. Serum HPS70 in preeclampsia: systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

The objective: to investigate the relationship between HSP70 concentrations in maternal serum and preeclampsia and assess the prospects of using HSP70 as a preeclampsia predictor.Materials and methods. The original publications, which study HSP70 in maternal serum of preeclamptic women, were searched and analyzed. Papers were identified with Scopus, PubMed Central, Virtual Health Library databases, published before January 2023, the keywords were «HSP70», «preeclampsia», «heat shock protein 70», «pregnant». Statistical analysis was performed via software EZR 1.55.Results. 16 case-control studies were included, making a total of 751 pregnant women with preeclampsia and 719 healthy pregnant women. The analysis found the statistically significant difference between HSP70 concentrations in maternal serum of preeclamptic and healthy pregnant patients. Cochrane Q-test showed high heterogeneity among studies (p<0.01), the value of the І2 statistic was 97%. Dividing the studies into groups made it possible to reduce or remove heterogeneity completely. This high level of heterogeneity for publications together, but low within most groups, suggests that there are certain factors that significantly influence some studies.Conclusions. The conducted systematic review and meta-analysis confidently indicate an increased average serum concentration of HSP70 in pregnant women with preeclampsia compared to healthy pregnant women at the corresponding gestational age.No statistically significant relationship was found between increased HSP70 concentration in preeclampsia and pregnant women’s age, gestational age, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Quantitative assessment of HSP70 levels is complicated by the lack of a single standard for laboratory diagnostics. The case-control design of the presented studies limits their significance.The use of HSP70 as a predictor of preeclampsia is promising, but requires further study and prospective cohort studies.