AbstractBackground: The hypertensive diseases complicating pregnancy still remains the major problem in developing countries that threatens the maternal health and foetal viability adding to maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity. There are many screening tests available but none of them proved to be effective in predicting PIH and preeclampsia. Present study designed to assess maternal serum IL6 levels in patients with pregnancy induced hypertension, preeclampsia and eclampsia and their correlation to fetomaternal outcome. Method: A casecontrol study on 50 normal pregnant women >20 weeks gestation as control and 50 women with SBP 140 mm of Hg and/or diastolic pressure 90 mm of Hg of pregnancy with >20 weeks gestation were recruited as study groups. All medical history, physical examination along with IL6 levels were analysed. Outcome measures of newborns were assessed for maturity, APGAR scores, birth weight, and neonatal complications. Results: Mean SBP was 161.4 mm of Hg and mean DBP was 106.5 mm of Hg in study group. Mean IL6 levels observed as 92.8 pg/ml in study group and 26.50 pg/ml in control group with p value of < 0.00001. In the present study, 21 (42%) babies were of APGAR < 7 in study group and 12 (24%) of babies were of APGAR < 7 in control group. The overall perinatal mortality was 36% in the study group, with 12 (24%) early neonatal deaths and it was only 2% in control group. Conclusion: The study results indicate that IL6 concentrations were increased in the circulation of preeclamptic patients compared with control women. It supports the hypothesis of immune activation involved in preeclampsia and that IL6 may participate in the abnormal immune response. Hence, it can be used as an indicator for assessing the severity of the disease and fetomaternal outcome.
Keywords: Preeclampsia; Interleukin6; Pregnancy Induced Hypertension; Fetomaternal Outcome.