Study of possible relation between maternal serum resistin and insulin resistance in patients with preeclampsia

Introduction In humans, resistin antagonizes the effects of insulin on glucose metabolism in the liver and skeletal muscle, interacts with and reinforces inflammatory pathways, and may promote endothelial cell activation. Increased resistin levels have been associated with obesity, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and increased cardiovascular risk. Objectives Our study aimed to investigate the utility of maternal serum resistin in women with preeclampsia compared with normal pregnant women and its relation to insulin resistance. Patients and methods This study was carried out on 90 women who were divided into two groups: group I: preeclampsia (n = 60) and group II: healthy pregnant controls (n = 30). All individuals were subjected to the following after an informed oral and written consent was obtained: full assessment of history, clinical examination with a special focus on edema, blood pressure measurement, and maternal BMI [weight (kg)/height 2 (m 2 )]. Gestational age was determined according to the date of the last menstrual period and confirmed by first-trimester ultrasound. Laboratory investigations including complete blood count, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and serum resistin were performed. Results Statistical comparison between preeclamptic patients (group I) and the healthy control group (group II) in terms of the different parameters studied showed a highly statistically significant increase in the patient group compared with the control group in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, BMI, creatinine (CRE), aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, 50 g oral glucose challenge test, fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, and resistin. In contrast, there was a highly statistically significant decrease in the patient group than the control group in haemoglobin (HB). Conclusion In this study, it was found that elevated serum resistin levels could be associated with exaggerated insulin resistance in patients with preeclampsia. Further studies are needed to clarify the role of resistin in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia and insulin resistance.