[Role of uric acid in preeclampsia-eclampsia].

Uric acid is a terminal metabolite of the degradation of nucleotides, which increases their blood levels in patients with preeclampsia-eclampsia, increasing its synthesis by damage and death of trophoblastic cells in proliferation and decreased urinary excretion due a lower glomerular filtration rate and increased absorption in the proximal tubule. Hyperuricemia (> 4.5 mg/dL) is the first biomarker of the clinical chemistry considered as an early evidence of disease (< or = 20 weeks gestation). Uric acid concentrations are not only a criterion for establishing the correct diagnosis and the differential with other hypertensive states, but an indication of termination of pregnancy, often by cesarean section. Hyperuricemia has also demonstrated its usefulness as a predictor of maternal and fetal complications and maternal sequelae of late postpartum. Several studies have demonstrated its influence on the genesis of preeclampsia-eclampsia, either alone or jointly with other known processes (metabolic syndrome, oxidative stress, inflammation cascade, angiogenesis) that have a proven role in perpetuating the endothelial damage and maternal vascular smooth muscle cells. Further research is needed in large-scale clinical and experimental studies that expand our knowledge about the usefulness of uric acid as a biomarker of preeclampsia-eclampsia to allow early prevention and reducing the prevalence.