Evidence of kidney injury in preeclampsia: Increased maternal and urinary levels of NGAL and KIM-1 and their enhanced expression in proximal tubule epithelial cells

Background and objective Proteinuria and glomerular endotheliosis are characteristics of glomerular injury in preeclampsia, a hypertensive disorder in human pregnancy. Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) are biomarkers of acute/chronic renal tubule injury. To determine if tubule injury occurs in preeclampsia, we determined maternal plasma and urine NGAL and KIM-1 levels and evaluated NGAL and KIM-1 expression in kidney biopsy specimens from women with preeclampsia. Methods Prenatal and postpartum maternal blood and urinary samples were collected from three groups of pregnant women: normal pregnancy (n = 100), preeclampsia (n = 83), and pregnancy complicated with chronic hypertension (n = 20). Plasma and urine levels of NGAL and KIM-1 were measured by ELISA. Kidney biopsy tissue sections from patients with preeclampsia (n = 5) were obtained from Pathology Archives and processed to determine NGAL and KIM-1 expression by immunostaining and high kidney solution images were assessed by electron microscopy (EM). Results Prenatal plasma and urine levels of NGAL and KIM-1 were significantly higher in preeclamptic than in normal controls, p < 0.01. In normal pregnancy, both plasma and urine levels of NGAL and KIM-1 at 24–48 h after delivery and 6–8 weeks postpartum were relatively comparable to that of antenatal levels. In preeclampsia, urine, but not plasma, NGAL levels were reduced at 6–8 weeks postpartum compared to the antenatal levels, p < 0.05. Although maternal and urine KIM-1 levels were reduced at 6–8 weeks postpartum compared to the antenatal levels in preeclampsia, the levels were still higher than those in normal pregnancy. Positive expression of NGAL and KIM-1 was detected in proximal tubule epithelial cells in kidney tissue specimens from preeclampsia but not in non-pregnancy controls. EM examination showed glomerular and tubular injury in preeclampsia. Conclusion Our findings of increased maternal levels and urine secretion of NGAL and KIM-1, along with the upregulation of NGAL and KIM-1 expression in tubular epithelial cells in preeclampsia, provide plausible evidence that tubular injury exists in preeclampsia. The higher postpartum NGAL and KIM-1 levels in preeclamptic pregnancies indicate that tubular injury would not resolve within 2–3 months after delivery and suggest that proper follow-up and management of kidney function in women with preeclampsia would be necessary to reduce chronic kidney diseases in those women later in life.