Analysis of Hematological Indices and Serum Immunoglobulin Levels (IgG and IgM) in Preeclamptic and Normotensive Pregnancies

 Preeclampsia (PE) is a common complication during pregnancy, affecting 2–5% of pregnant women. It is believed to be associated with modulaton of immune response. This study investigated some hematological indices and serum levels of immunoglobulins- Ig G and IgM in pre-eclamptic and normotensive patients attending Ante-natal Clinic at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital Benin City, Nigeria.  The study was carried out among 229 subjects consisting of 128 preeclamptic subjects and 101 healthy normotensive pregnant women. Blood samples were collected from pre-eclamptic and normotensive pregnant women. The hematological analysis was carried out using the blood hematology autoanalyzer while the samples for immunoglobin analysis for IgG and IgM was conducted using the ELISA method. The hematological parameters for all test subjects, revealed that mean counts of the neutrophil, lymphocyte and basophil as well as the packed cell volume (PCV) and platelets were significantly  higher in pre-eclamptic than normotensive women. The immunoglobulin G (IgG) significantly decreased from 7.22 ± 0.10 ng/ml in the normotensive women to 5.48 ± 0.23 ng/ml in the pre-eclamptic women while  immunoglobulin (IgM) weas observed to be higher in preeclamptic women than the normal pregnant women though not statistically significant (p>0.05).. In conclusion, the pre-eclamptic condition significantly affected some hematological indices and immunoglobulin G when compared to the normal preganant women in the study population and these could be used as important biomarkers in the diagnosis of the condition.