Evaluation of Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase and Electrolyte Levels among Pre-eclamptic Women at University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, North West, Ethiopia, 2021

Abstract

Abstract Background: Serum lactate dehydrogenase is a sensitive marker of hypoxia and cellular damage/death in pre-eclampsia due to vascular endothelial dysfunction. Besides, evaluation of serum electrolytes can indicate the severity of pre-eclampsia since it is a vascular endothelial disorder. However, to the best of our search, in Ethiopia and the study area, there is a paucity of data regarding the serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase and electrolytes among pre-eclamptic patients in comparison with normotensive pregnant women (controls). Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate serum LDH and electrolyte levels among preeclampsia patients in comparison with their respective controls at UGCSH Method: Hospital-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 128 study participants from August 1 to November 8, 2021. The data was entered into Epi-data version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 25. About 5 ml of blood sample was taken from each participants for biochemical test analysis. Serum parameters were analyzed using Beckman coulter 700AU chemistry analyzer. Descriptive statistical data was presented using texts, tables or graphs. One-way ANOVA was run to analyze the variations in the mean levels of serum parameters between controls, pre-eclampsia without and with severe features. Receiver operator characteristic curve was used to determine the diagnostic value for pre-eclampsia. Result: Pre-eclamptic women showed a statistically significant elevation of LDH (p<0.001), significant decrement in serum magnesium (p<0.001), calcium (p<0.001), potassium (p=0.029) and insignificant reduction of sodium (p=0.754) than that of their controls. There was also a significant elevation of LDH (p<0.001) but reduction of calcium (p< 0.001) and potassium (p=0.021) in pre-eclampsia with severe features than pre-eclampsia without severe features. Serum LDH detected pre-eclampsia with best accuracy (97.5%) (sensitivity 87.5% and specificity 96.9%) at ?350 U/L. Serum magnesium predicted pre-eclampsia accurately in 69.5% of participants at 1.505 mg/dl, calcium in 82.3% at ? 8.65 and 8.75 mg/dl and potassium in 61.0% of subjects with cutoff values 3.5 and 3.75 mmol/l. Conclusion: Serum LDH was significantly increased in the pre-eclamptic group and can be considered as important biomarker of pre-eclampsia and its severity. There were significantly decreased levels of serum electrolyte (magnesium, calcium and potassium) in pre-eclampsia and may act as predisposing factor in pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia. Keywords: 揕actate dehydrogenase�, 揺lectrolytes�, 損re-eclampsia??