Figure 3.

Activated plasma from patients with HELLP syndrome and preeclampsia at onset induced an increase C5b-9 deposition on endothelial cells. (A) Quantification of C5b-9 deposits on endothelial cells show that three HELLP syndrome patients (H1 to H3) showed marked complement activation in the acute phase (black bars) that was still increased after 40 days (gray bars), and normalized after 6–9 months (white bars). All except one patient with preeclampsia (PE) also showed increased complement activation in the acute phase, but only two were still positive after 40 days. All patients with preeclampsia analyzed had normal complement activity after 6–9 months. Ten healthy pregnant women were also analyzed (C1 to C10), obtaining normal C5b-9 deposits. The dotted line represents control values. *P<0.05 represents values statistically higher than control samples. Statistical analysis was performed with raw data using the t test for paired samples. (B) Bar diagrams show results from C5b-9 deposition induced by activated plasma from five patients with malignant hypertension (MH1 to MH5). All patients in the acute phase showed normal complement activity, represented by the dotted line. Statistical analysis was performed with raw data using the t test for paired samples.