Elevation of urinary adipsin in preeclampsia: correlation with urine protein concentration and the potential use for a rapid diagnostic test.

Early diagnosis and treatment of preeclampsia are essential for prevention of seizure development and fetus maturation. Although various methods have been developed for predicting or monitoring the onset of preeclampsia, a simple assay that can be used as a home or point of care test remains unavailable. We attempted to find a urinary protein that could be used as a biomarker for developing such a test. Urinary samples were collected from 124 preeclampsia and 135 healthy pregnant women for screening using a protein array technology and quantification by ELISA. A urinary protein, adipsin, was found significantly increased, and the adipsin creatinine ratio was closely correlated with the urinary 24-hour protein in patients with preeclampsia. When combined with the increased diastolic blood pressure (≥90 mm Hg), the sensitivity was 90.3% and the specificity reached 100.0% for preeclampsia diagnosis. We then developed a laminar flow immunoassay for rapid diagnosis, and the sensitivity and specificity were 89.04% and 100%, respectively, when combined with increased diastolic blood pressure. Because of the easiness of sample collection, assay conduction, and result interpretation, this urine test can be potentially used as a home test for monitoring preeclampsia onset for high-risk pregnant women and as a rapid test for a preliminary diagnosis for emergency patients at hospitals.