There is a paucity of biomarkers to predict preeclampsia and for predicting the severity of preeclampsia. This study was designed to identify novel biomarkers for both the prediction of preeclampsia in previously normal pregnancies and for the prediction of the severity of preeclampsia in preeclamptic women. The investigators plan to perform targeted testing for markers that the investigators predict based on their findings or based on available published evidence and the investigators also plan testing for novel markers using various approaches such as proteomics, lipidomics and genomics. The targeted markers will include Aquaporin 4 (AQP4), soluble aquaporin fragments, chemokines, and halogenated fatty acids in the plasma and/or spinal fluid. Aquaporin fragments and AQP4 have been hypothesized to correlate with severe headaches which are complications of severe preeclampsia. The investigators found in their murine studies that there is a correlation between the presence of halogenated fatty acids in the plasma and elevated blood pressure in a murine model of preeclampsia. The approaches will complement the targeted analyses to identify novel markers that have not been predicted yet.
