Plasma interleukin-18 (IL-18) levels are correlated with antioxidant vitamin coenzyme Q(10) in preeclampsia.

Objective: Alteration of cytokines level and oxidative stress are both associated with preeclampsia (PE). We have investigated if IL-6 and IL-18 levels were related to coenzyme Q(10) (CoQ(10)), an antioxidant and a marker of oxidative stress in the plasma from normotensive and preeclamptic pregnancies.

Design: IL-6 and IL-18 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays in plasmas from preeclamptic (n = 29) and normotensive pregnancies (n = 30).

Specific systemic antioxidant response to preeclampsia in late pregnancy: the study of intracellular glutathione peroxidases in maternal and fetal blood.

Objective: The physiopathology of preeclampsia is still unclear, but an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants, also called oxidative stress, appears to be an important contributing factor. The ROS promote lipid oxidation and are known to induce stress proteins, such as hemeoxygenase 1 (HO-1) and heat-shock protein 70 (Hsp-70). We hypothesized that glutathione peroxidases (GPx), a major class of antioxidant enzymes that regulate cell homeostasis by neutralizing lipid peroxides, are altered in the blood of preeclamptic women and neonates (venous cord blood).