Correlations of serum hsa_circ_0002348 and hsa_circ_0001740 levels with severity of gestational hypertension

Objective To investigate the correlations of serum hsa_circ_0002348 and hsa_circ_0001740 levels with the severity of gestational hypertension.

Methods A total of 169 patients with gestational hypertension in the hospital from January 2018 to January 2023 were selected as study group, and they were divided into mild preeclampsia group (n=82), severe preeclampsia group (n=47), and eclampsia group (n=40) according to the severity of the disease. Another 169 healthy pregnant women with antenatal examination in the same period were selected as control group. Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the relative expression levels of serum hsa_circ_0002348 and hsa_circ_0001740. The correlations of serum hsa_circ_0002348 and hsa_circ_0001740 levels with the severity of the disease were analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to analyze the values of serum hsa_circ_0002348 and hsa_circ_0001740 levels in diagnosing eclampsia during pregnancy.

Results The systolic and diastolic blood pressures of the control group, mild preeclampsia group, severe preeclampsia group, and eclampsia group were all significantly increased (P < 0.01). The level of serum hsa_circ_0002348 in the eclampsia group, severe preeclampsia group, mild preeclampsia group, and control group showed a decreasing trend in sequence, while the level of hsa_circ_0001740 showed an increasing trend in sequence, with significant between-group differences (P < 0.01). The area under the curve (AUC) for diagnosing eclampsia during pregnancy by the combination of serum hsa_circ_0002348 and hsa_circ_0001740 was significantly higher than the AUC for diagnosis by each individual index (Z_{hsa_circ_0002348: hsa_circ_0002348+hsa_circ_0001740}=4.677, P < 0.001; Z_{hsa_circ_0001740: hsa_circ_0002348+hsa_circ_0001740}=3.579, P < 0.001). Spearman analysis showed that serum hsa_circ_0002348 was positively correlated with the severity of the disease (r_s=0.751, P < 0.05), while hsa_circ_0001740 was negatively correlated with the severity of the disease (r_s=-50.638, P < 0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that systolic blood pressure (OR=2.652), diastolic blood pressure (OR=3.247), hsa_circ_0002348 (OR=2.365), and hsa_circ_0001740 (OR=0.325) were influencing factors of severity of the disease (P < 0.05).

Conclusion As the severity of gestational hypertension increases, the serum hsa_circ_0002348 level increases significantly, while the hsa_circ_0001740 level decreases significantly. Two indexes are correlated with the severity of gestational hypertension.