The Evaluation of Intestinal Permeability in Preeclamptic Pregnancy

Zonulin is a physiological protein that regulates the tight connections and permeability of the intestine, serving as a biomarker for impaired intestinal permeability. The aim of this study was to examine zonulin levels in preeclampsia, to investigate its associations with the cellular immune response marker soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) and exogenous antigen load marker lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP) and to evaluate the implications of these findings in the etiopathogenesis of preeclampsia. We designed a cross-sectional case-control study and enrolled 22 pregnant women with preeclampsia and 22 healthy pregnant controls. Plasma zonulin levels were determined by ELISA. Serum sIL-2R and LBP levels were assessed by chemiluminescent immunometric methods. Women with preeclampsia had lower levels of plasma zonulin and serum LBP than normotensive healthy controls (p