ADAM12s and PP13 as first trimester screening markers for adverse pregnancy outcome

Background: The aim of the study was to assess the screening performance of first trimester maternal serum measurements of A-disintegrin-and- metalloprotease 12-s (ADAM12s) and placental protein 13 (PP13) for preeclampsia (PE), gestational hypertension (GH) and small-forgestational-age (SGA) fetuses. Methods: In this retrospective case-control study 220 pregnant women were matched for gestational and maternal age at sampling. Results were expressed as multiples of the median (MoM) and compared using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U-test. Screening performance was assessed by receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curves and area under the curve (AUC). Results: Seventeen cases of PE, 30 cases of GH and eight cases of SGA fetuses were matched with 165 controls. ROC-analysis yielded AUCs for ADAM12s and PP13 of 0.63 and 0.59 for PE, 0.68 and 0.57 for GH and 0.59 and 0.62 for SGA, respectively. Combined ADAM12 and PP13 did not improve the AUC value. When the specificity was set at 80%, corresponding detection rate of ADAM12s was 52% for GH. Conclusions: Combined ADAM12s and PP13 measurements do not predict adverse pregnancy outcome, but decreased first trimester ADAM12s levels are associated with GH.