Abstract
Objective: To identify and compare anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) in patients with eclampsia, different grades of preeclampsia and women with normotensive pregnancy. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 13 patients with eclampsia, 39 with preeclampsia (13 severe, 26 mild), and 52 normotensive pregnant women. All of them were studied in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy. The aCL were determined by an ELISA method. Results: There were no significant differences in IgG aCL (F = 0.33, p = 0.80) and IgM aCL (F = 1.64, p = 0.18) between patients with eclampsia (6.9 ± 3.9 U/GPL and 4.0 ± 2.0 U/MPL), severe preeclampsia (5.7 ± 3.5 U/GPL and 2.9 ± 1.3 U/MPL), mild preeclampsia (6.8 ± 3.9 U/GPL and 2.8 ± 1.0 U/MPL) and normotensive pregnant women (6.4 ± 3.4 U/GPL and 3.0 ± 1.8 U/MPL). None of the values of the aCL were considered as positive. Conclusion: Serum aCL levels were similar in patients with different grades of preeclampsia-eclampsia and women with normotensive pregnancy.