Cholesterol homeostasis is dysregulated in women with preeclampsia

The link between the preeclampsia development and dyslipidemia has been established. Even though lipid profile parameters have been intensively investigated in the pathology of preeclampsia, their accurate molecular mechanisms of action have not been fully decoded. We aimed to identify the specifics of cholesterol metabolism in women affected by late-onset preeclampsia and single out potential biomarkers associated with late-onset syndrome. Ninety pregnant women with a priori risk for preeclampsia development were monitored in four points during gestation and, based on the outcome of pregnancy, they were classified into the high-risk (70 women), and preeclampsia group (20 women). Cholesterol metabolic profiling was done using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The only significant change in the preeclampsia group was an increase in lathosterol (P=0.001). The 1st-trimester lathosterol was higher in preeclampsia compared to the high-risk group (P=0.02). Further, in the preeclampsia group, positive correlations were found between desmosterol and β-sitosterol (ρ=0.474, P=0.03) in the 3rd trimester, desmosterol and campesterol changes between the 2nd and 1st (ρ=0.546, P=0.02), and the 3rd and 1st trimesters (ρ=0.754, P