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Preeklampsia NEJM
Preeklampsia NEJM
original article
A bs t r ac t
Background
From the Departments of Obstetrics and Oxidative stress has been proposed as a mechanism linking the poor placental perfu-
Gynecology, University of Pittsburgh, sion characteristic of preeclampsia with the clinical manifestations of the disorder.
Pittsburgh (J.M.R.); University of Cincin-
nati College of Medicine, Cincinnati (L.M.); We assessed the effects of antioxidant supplementation with vitamins C and E, initi-
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Insti- ated early in pregnancy, on the risk of serious adverse maternal, fetal, and neonatal
tute of Child Health and Human Devel- outcomes related to pregnancy-associated hypertension.
opment (C.Y.S.) and the National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute (G.D.P.) — Methods
both in Bethesda, MD; George Washing-
ton University Biostatistics Center, Wash- We conducted a multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial involving nulliparous
ington, DC (E.A.T.); University of Alabama women who were at low risk for preeclampsia. Women were randomly assigned to
at Birmingham, Birmingham (J.C.H.);
University of Texas Southwestern Medi-
begin daily supplementation with 1000 mg of vitamin C and 400 IU of vitamin E or
cal Center, Dallas (K.J.L.); Columbia Uni- matching placebo between the 9th and 16th weeks of pregnancy. The primary out-
versity, New York (R.J.W.); University of come was severe pregnancy-associated hypertension alone or severe or mild hyper-
Utah, Salt Lake City (M.W.V.); University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel
tension with elevated liver-enzyme levels, thrombocytopenia, elevated serum creati-
Hill (J.M.T.), and Wake Forest University nine levels, eclamptic seizure, medically indicated preterm birth, fetal-growth restriction,
Health Sciences, Winston-Salem (M.H.) or perinatal death.
— both in North Carolina; Case Western
Reserve University, Cleveland (B.M.M.); Results
Northwestern University, Chicago (A.M.P.);
University of Texas Health Science Cen- A total of 10,154 women underwent randomization. The two groups were similar
ter at Houston, Houston (S.M.R.); Brown with respect to baseline characteristics and adherence to the study drug. Outcome
University, Providence, RI (M.W.C.); Ohio data were available for 9969 women. There was no significant difference between
State University, Columbus (P.S.); Drexel
University, Philadelphia (A.S.); Oregon the vitamin and placebo groups in the rates of the primary outcome (6.1% and 5.7%,
Health and Science University, Portland respectively; relative risk in the vitamin group, 1.07; 95% confidence interval [CI],
(W.J.S.); University of Texas Medical 0.91 to 1.25) or in the rates of preeclampsia (7.2% and 6.7%, respectively; relative
Branch (G.S.) and Medical Center (G.B.A.),
Galveston; and Wayne State University, risk, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.93 to 1.24). Rates of adverse perinatal outcomes did not differ
Detroit (Y.S.). significantly between the groups.
*Other members of the Eunice Kennedy Conclusions
Shriver National Institute of Child Health
and Human Development Maternal–
Vitamin C and E supplementation initiated in the 9th to 16th week of pregnancy in
Fetal Medicine Units Network are listed an unselected cohort of low-risk, nulliparous women did not reduce the rate of ad-
in the Appendix. verse maternal or perinatal outcomes related to pregnancy-associated hypertension
N Engl J Med 2010;362:1282-91.
(ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00135707).
Copyright © 2010 Massachusetts Medical Society.
P
reeclampsia has been considered to inclusion in the study. Gestational age at random-
be a two-stage disorder. Abnormal placen- ization was between 9 weeks 0 days and 16 weeks
tation or perfusion results in an increased 6 days. Women were eligible for inclusion if they
inflammatory response and endothelial dysfunc- had not had a previous pregnancy that lasted be-
tion, which in turn lead to the characteristic ma- yond 19 weeks 6 days. Gestational age was deter-
ternal syndrome.1 Oxidative stress is one of sev- mined before randomization with the use of a
eral mechanisms that have been proposed to cause previously described algorithm15 that took into
manifestations of the disease; it has been suggest- account the date of the last menstrual period (if
ed that the generation of free radicals in response reliable information was available) and results of
to reduced placental perfusion may lead to clini- the earliest ultrasound examination. Women were
cal manifestations.2 Support for this concept is not eligible if they had elevated systolic blood
provided by data showing that there are oxidative pressure (135 mm Hg or higher), elevated diastol-
modifications of proteins,3,4 lipids,2,5,6 and DNA7 ic blood pressure (85 mm Hg or higher), or pro-
in the blood and tissue of women with preeclamp- teinuria (300 mg of protein or more, as measured
sia and their infants, as well as the observation in a 24-hour urine sample, or a urine-dipstick re-
that the concentrations of buffering antioxidants, sult of 1+ or higher for protein), were taking or had
such as ascorbate, are reduced starting early in taken antihypertensive medication, or were tak-
pregnancy in women in whom preeclampsia de- ing more than 150 mg of vitamin C or more than
velops later in the pregnancy.8 Although not all 75 IU of vitamin E daily. Other exclusion criteria
data support this hypothesis,9 there was enough were diabetes that was present before the preg-
evidence by the late 1990s to support the perfor- nancy, treatment with antiplatelet drugs or non-
mance of a randomized, controlled trial of anti- steroidal antiinflammatory agents, uterine bleed-
oxidant therapy, initiated early in pregnancy, to ing within the week before recruitment, uterine
prevent the clinical signs of preeclampsia.10 In a malformation, serious medical condition, known
study involving 283 women at high risk for pre fetal anomaly or aneuploidy, in vitro fertilization
eclampsia, supplementation with vitamins C and E, resulting in the current pregnancy, or abuse of
as compared with placebo, was effective in reduc- illicit drugs or alcohol.
ing evidence of endothelial activation; moreover,
there was a 60% reduction in the diagnosis of Study Design
preeclampsia. This study stimulated several groups, Eligible women who were no more than 15 weeks
including the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National In- pregnant and who consented to participate in the
stitutes of Child Health and Human Development study were given a supply of placebo and asked to
Maternal–Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network, return within 2 weeks. Those who returned, who
to perform larger, randomized trials involving had taken at least 50% of the placebo that they were
women at high risk and women at low risk for the supposed to have taken, and who still met the eli-
disorder.11-14 None of these studies replicated the gibility criteria were randomly assigned to receive
original positive findings. In contrast with the oth- capsules containing a combination of 1000 mg
er studies, our trial was designed to detect a mod- of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and 400 IU of vita-
est effect size in serious outcomes associated with min E (RRR-alpha-tocopherol acetate) or match-
gestational hypertension and preeclampsia among ing placebo (mineral oil). Both the vitamin and
low-risk women, with treatment beginning early placebo capsules were manufactured by Strides,
in the pregnancy. which had no role in the design of the study, the
analysis or interpretation of the data, the prepa-
Me thods ration of the manuscript, or the decision to sub-
mit the manuscript for publication. The simple urn
Study Population method, with stratification according to clinical
We conducted the trial from July 2003 through center, was used by the data coordinating center
February 2008 at the 16 clinical centers and the to create a randomization sequence16; boxes con-
independent data coordinating center of the MFMU taining each participant’s supply of capsules were
Network. Pregnant women who had a singleton packaged according to this sequence. Neither the
fetus with a gestational age of less than 16 weeks participants nor the investigators were aware of
0 days at the time of screening were eligible for the treatment assignments.
Women were instructed to take the study drug pressure measurement that was severely elevated
each day until they delivered their babies. The and that led to treatment with an antihyperten-
study participants returned on a monthly basis to sive medication. Mild pregnancy-associated hyper-
return any unused study drug from the previous tension was defined as a systolic pressure between
month, receive a new supply of the study drug for 140 and 159 mm Hg or a diastolic pressure be-
the coming month, report on side effects, and tween 90 mm and 109 mm Hg on two occasions
have their blood pressure and urine protein level 2 to 240 hours apart. To be considered part of the
(as assessed on dipstick testing) measured. Clini- primary outcome, an abnormal laboratory value
cal research staff also obtained data on neonatal had to be present within 10 days before or any-
and maternal outcomes at delivery. time after the onset of the pregnancy-associated
To determine the primary outcome and the hypertension.
diagnosis of preeclampsia, deidentified medical
charts of all women with pregnancy-associated Secondary Outcomes
hypertension were reviewed centrally by at least Secondary outcomes included preeclampsia and
three reviewers who were unaware of the treat- other maternal and neonatal outcomes. Mild pre
ment assignments. All data were collected or ab- eclampsia was defined as mild pregnancy-associ-
stracted by certified research personnel at the ated hypertension with documentation of protei-
clinical centers and uploaded to a database that nuria within 72 hours before or after an elevated
was managed by an independent data coordinat- blood-pressure measurement. Proteinuria was de-
ing center, which was responsible for data analy- fined as total protein excretion of 300 mg or more
sis. The study was approved by the institutional in a 24-hour urine sample or 2+ or higher on dip-
review board at each clinical site and the data stick testing, or a protein-to-creatinine ratio of
coordinating center. All participants provided writ- 0.35 or more if a 24-hour urine sample was not
ten informed consent before enrollment. available. After the rupture of membranes, only
catheterized urine samples were considered in the
Primary Outcome diagnostic criteria. Severe preeclampsia was de-
The primary outcome was a composite of preg- fined as preeclampsia with either severe pregnancy-
nancy-associated hypertension and serious adverse associated hypertension or protein excretion of 5 g
outcomes in the mother or her fetus or neonate or more in a 24-hour urine sample or as mild
— severe pregnancy-associated hypertension alone pregnancy-associated hypertension with oliguria
or severe or mild pregnancy-associated hyperten- (<500 ml in a 24-hour urine sample), pulmonary
sion with one or more of the following: elevated edema (confirmed by radiography), or thrombo-
liver enzyme levels (an aspartate aminotrans- cytopenia (platelet count of <100,000 per cubic
ferase level ≥100 U per liter), thrombocytopenia millimeter). The HELLP syndrome (hemolysis, ele-
(a platelet count of <100,000 per cubic millime- vated liver enzyme levels, and a low platelet count)
ter), elevated serum creatinine level (≥1.5 mg per was considered to be present if pregnancy-asso-
deciliter [132.6 μmol per liter]), eclamptic seizure, ciated hypertension occurred with all of the fol-
an indicated preterm birth before 32 weeks of lowing: a platelet count of less than 100,000 per
gestation owing to hypertension-related disorders, cubic millimeter, an aspartate aminotransferase
a fetus that was small for gestational age (below level of 100 U per liter or more, and evidence of
the 3rd percentile) adjusted for sex and race or hemolysis (either a lactate dehydrogenase level
ethnic group,17 fetal death after 20 weeks of ges- ≥600 U per liter or a total bilirubin level ≥1.2 mg
tation, or neonatal death. The diagnosis of hy- per deciliter, or a peripheral-blood smear show-
pertension was based on blood-pressure measure- ing nucleated red cells, schistocytes, or an elevat-
ments obtained during or after the 20th week of ed reticulocyte count).
pregnancy, excluding intraoperative blood pres-
sures and intrapartum systolic pressures. Severe Statistical Analysis
pregnancy-associated hypertension was defined The expected rate of the primary outcome in the
as a systolic pressure of 160 mm Hg or more or a placebo group was estimated from a previous
diastolic pressure of 110 mm Hg or more on two MFMU Network study of low-dose aspirin to pre-
occasions 2 to 240 hours apart, or a single blood- vent preeclampsia in nulliparous women.18 We esti-
* The primary composite outcome was severe pregnancy-associated hypertension alone or severe or mild hypertension
with elevated liver-enzyme levels, thrombocytopenia, elevated serum creatinine levels, eclamptic seizure, indicated pre-
term birth, fetal-growth restriction, or perinatal death. Women were counted only once, regardless of the number of
events.
† Included here are women who had severe hypertension only and those who had severe hypertension with elevated liver-
enzyme levels, thrombocytopenia, elevated serum creatinine levels, eclamptic seizure, medically indicated preterm
birth, fetal-growth restriction, or perinatal death.
‡ Women who met more than one component of the primary outcome were counted for each component. Therefore,
the number of women for all individual components combined is greater than the number of women with the primary
outcome.
§ A baby whose weight was less than the 3rd percentile was considered to be small for gestational age.
week of pregnancy, the primary outcome occurred ated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes.20
in 6.6% of those in the vitamin group, as com- Furthermore, a diagnosis of proteinuria that is
pared with 5.9% of those in the placebo group based on the qualitative assessment of random
(relative risk, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.89 to 1.42); among urine samples or even on protein-to-creatinine ra-
the 5626 women who were enrolled in or after the tios cannot be compared with a diagnosis that is
13th week of pregnancy, the primary outcome based on 24-hour urine collections.21-24 Since our
occurred in 5.7% of those in the vitamin group primary outcome was not based on a conventional
and 5.6% of those in the placebo group (relative diagnosis of preeclampsia, we used preeclampsia
risk, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.82 to 1.26). as a major secondary outcome. The rates of mild
preeclampsia, severe preeclampsia, the HELLP syn-
Discussion drome, and eclampsia were not significantly af-
fected by vitamin treatment. There was also no
In our study, supplementation with vitamins C evidence of a benefit with vitamin therapy with
and E did not reduce the frequency of the primary respect to any of the other prespecified secondary
outcome or any of its components. We chose the outcomes.
primary outcome of new-onset pregnancy-associ- Several other trials have examined the effec-
ated hypertension with evidence of maternal, fetal, tiveness of vitamins C and E in preventing pre
or neonatal complications, rather than the diag- eclampsia.11-14 The doses of vitamins that were
nosis of preeclampsia, so that we could assess used in those trials were the same as those used in
whether therapy would prevent serious complica- our trial. Each of the previous trials had a smaller
tions rather than merely modify diagnostic find- sample than that in our study; only one of the
ings. We did not require the presence of protein previous trials included low-risk subjects.13 In no
uria as part of the primary outcome, since severe other study was therapy initiated as early as it
hypertension without proteinuria can be associ- was in our trial. The Vitamins in Pre-eclampsia
* HELLP denotes hemolytic anemia, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count.
study (VIP; Current Controlled Trials number, cant increase in the use of antihypertensive ther-
ISRCTN62368611) of antioxidant supplementation apy was found with vitamin supplementation in
to prevent preeclampsia in high-risk women the previous trial involving low-risk women.13
showed that there was an increased rate of com- Why was therapy with these antioxidant vita-
plications among women and infants when wom- mins not successful in altering the outcome of
en received antioxidant vitamins during pregnan- hypertension in pregnancy in our study or in pre-
cy.14 In that study, there were significantly more vious studies? It is, of course, possible that al-
babies with low birth weight (a prespecified out- though oxidative stress is present in preeclamp-
come) in the group that received vitamin supple- sia, it is not important in the pathophysiology of
mentation than in the control group; gestational the condition. Alternatively, oxidative stress may
hypertension and the use of antihypertensive ther- be relevant to pathogenesis in only a subgroup of
apy were also more common in the vitamin group. women, with no appreciable benefit of antioxi-
Although the rates of perinatal death were simi- dants for the overall population. It has been sug-
lar in the two groups, post hoc analyses showed gested, in relation to other trials, that the women
that the stillbirth rate was higher (and the neo- may already have had adequate concentrations of
natal death rate lower) in the vitamin group than vitamins C and E before therapy.25 In our study,
in the control group. In contrast, we did not find almost 80% of the women were taking prenatal
significant between-group differences in the rates vitamins that contained an average of 100 mg
of low birth weight and stillbirth. We did find of vitamin C and 22 IU of alpha-tocopherol when
an increase in the frequency of gestational hyper- they entered the study. Doses of ascorbate of
tension in the vitamin group, as compared with 150 mg per day result in nearly maximal plasma
the placebo group. We did not collect data on the and tissue concentrations. Administration of 1000
use of antihypertensive medications, but a signifi- mg per day increases the plasma concentration by
* Plus–minus values are means ±SD. NICU denotes neonatal intensive care unit.
† A baby whose birth weight was less than the 3rd percentile was considered to be small for gestational age.
only 25% above that achieved with 150 mg per creased objective evidence of oxidative stress.10
day.26 The doses of alpha-tocopherol used in this The timing of the administration of antioxidants
study, however, would be expected to increase is also important. The antioxidants need to be
plasma concentrations substantially above those present at the time of a relevant pro-oxidant chal-
achieved with prenatal vitamins.26 The possibil- lenge. Burton and Jauniaux found that the initia-
ity that therapy might be effective specifically in tion of intervillous blood flow at 8 to 10 weeks
women who are deficient in these vitamins was of gestation was associated with a burst of oxida-
not supported by the World Health Organization tive stress.27 Antioxidant therapy in our study was
study (ISRCTN86677348) of vitamin C and E sup- initiated in the 9th to 16th week of pregnancy,
plementation, which showed that supplementa- with 44% of women beginning treatment before
tion with these vitamins, as compared with pla- the 13th week of pregnancy. In a post hoc sub-
cebo, did not reduce the risk of preeclampsia in group analysis limited to women treated before
a high-risk and nutritionally deficient popula- the 13th week of pregnancy, there was no appar-
tion (relative risk with vitamins, 1.0; 95% CI, ent benefit of vitamin supplementation. We also
0.9 to 1.3).11 cannot be certain that other antioxidants would
The doses of vitamins C and E used in our trial not have been effective.
were determined on the basis of the preliminary In summary, supplementation with vitamin C
study, in which these doses not only appeared to (at a dose of 1000 mg daily) and vitamin E (at a
reduce the frequency of preeclampsia but also de- dose of 400 IU daily) did not reduce the rates of
either serious adverse outcomes of pregnancy- HD34136, HD27860, HD53118, HD53097, HD27917, and
HD36801), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI),
associated hypertension or preeclampsia among and the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) (M01
low-risk, nulliparous women. Previous studies have RR00080, UL1 RR024153, and UL1 RR024989).
shown a similar lack of efficacy among high-risk Financial and other disclosures provided by the authors are
available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.
women and among women who were likely to have The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the
had a deficiency of vitamins C and E. The findings authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of the
of these several studies provide no support for the NICHD, NHLBI, NCRR, or the National Institutes of Health.
We thank Rebecca G. Clifton, Ph.D., for protocol and data
use of vitamin C and E supplementation in preg- management and statistical analysis; Sabine Bousleiman,
nancy to reduce the risk of preeclampsia or its M.S.N., and Margaret Cotroneo, R.N., for coordination between
complications. clinical research centers and central review of outcomes; and
Supported by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Na- Trisha Boekhoudt, M.P.H., Karen Dorman, R.N., M.S., Gail Mal-
tional Institute of Child Health and Human Development lett, B.S.N., Allison Northen, B.S.N., Jo-Ann Tillinghast, M.S.N.,
(NICHD) (HD34208, HD27869, HD40485, HD40560, HD40544, Joan Moss, M.S.N., Stephanie Fyffe, B.S.N., and Matthew Hoff-
HD34116, HD40512, HD21410, HD40545, HD40500, HD27915, man, M.D., for central review of outcomes.
Appendix
In addition to the authors, members of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Mater-
nal–Fetal Medicine Units Network are as follows: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh — S. Caritis, T. Kamon, M. Cotroneo, D. Fischer;
University of Utah, Salt Lake City — P. Reed, S. Quinn (LDS Hospital), V. Morby (McKay-Dee Hospital), F. Porter (LDS Hospital), R. Silver,
J. Miller (Utah Valley Regional Medical Center), K. Hill; University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham — D.J. Rouse, A. Northen, P.
Files, J. Grant, M. Wallace, K. Bailey; Columbia University, New York — S. Bousleiman, R. Alcon, K. Saravia, F. Loffredo, A. Bayless (Chris-
tiana), C. Perez, M. Lake (St. Peter’s University Hospital), M. Talucci; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill — K. Boggess,
K. Dorman, J. Mitchell, K. Clark, S. Timlin; Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland — J. Bailit, C. Milluzzi, W. Dalton, C. Brezine, D.
Bazzo; University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas — J. Sheffield, L. Moseley, M. Santillan, K. Buentipo, J. Price, L. Sherman, C.
Melton, Y. Gloria-McCutchen, B. Espino; Northwestern University, Chicago — M. Dinsmoor (Evanston NorthShore), T. Matson-Manning,
G. Mallett; University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston — S. Blackwell. K. Cannon, S. Lege-Humbert,
Z. Spears; Brown University, Providence, RI — J. Tillinghast, M. Seebeck; Ohio State University, Columbus — F. Johnson, S. Fyffe, C. Latimer,
S. Frantz, S. Wylie; Drexel University, Philadelphia — M. Talucci, M. Hoffman (Christiana), J. Benson (Christiana), Z. Reid, C. Tocci; Wake
Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, NC — P. Meis, M. Swain; Oregon Health and Science University, Portland — L. Davis, E. Lairson,
S. Butcher, S. Maxwell, D. Fisher; University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston — J. Moss, B. Stratton, G. Hankins, J. Brandon, C. Nelson-
Becker; Wayne State University, Detroit — G. Norman, S. Blackwell, P. Lockhart, D. Driscoll, M. Dombrowski; George Washington University
Biostatistics Center, Washington, DC — R. Clifton, T. Boekhoudt, L. Leuchtenburg; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD — V. Pember-
ton, J. Cutler, W. Barouch; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD — S. Tolivaisa.
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