5. Conclusions
In summary, the development of more innovative diagnostic tests that allow the early identification of women at risk for developing PE is a recognized clinical need. The data obtained in this study are consistent with the hypothesis that the accumulation of placental molecules within GCF during early pregnancy are informative of the risk of developing PE and could be surrogate markers of placental function. The practical translation of these data to the clinical setting requires further validation to determine its clinical implications.
Conflict of Interest statement: The authors have stated explicitly that there are no conflicts of interest concerning this manuscript. The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Details of ethics approval: The recruiting of pregnant women, sample collection and analysis, were carried out with the approval of Ethics Committees of Universidad de los Andes (FDF2016002) and Hospital Sotero del Rio (RES019892).
Funding: The present study was supported by a Grant (FONDEF IDeA ID16I10452) from the “Fund to Encourage Scientific and Technological Development (FONDEF)” Ministry of Education. Government of Chile”. Moneda 1375, Santiago de Chile. Dr. Romero was supported, in part, by the Perinatology Research Branch, Division of Obstetrics and Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (NICHD/NIH/DHHS); and, in part, with Federal funds from NICHD/NIH/DHHS under Contract No. HHSN275201300006C.
Acknowledgements: We thank all the pregnant women for their cooperation in our study. We also acknowledge to the members of the Laboratory of Biology Reproduction of the Centre for Biomedical Research. Universidad de Los Andes. Santiago, Chile.