Abstract Background: Placental dysfunction is usually associated with a wide range of obstetric complications. Among the most important of these complications are preeclampsia (PE) and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), they are associated with a higher rate of perinatal mortality and morbidity. Kisspeptins are peptide products of the KISS-1 gene, which act through binding with the G-protein coupled receptor 54, Kisspeptin-10 (KP-10) produced by trophoblast cells, has an important role in controlling of migratory features and tro-phoblastic invasion. Studies that evaluate the role of KP-10 in pregnancy complications are sparse.
Aim of the Work: To investigate serum KP-10 levels in correlation with some parameters in pregnancy complicated with IUGR with or without PE.
Subjects and Methods: This study was performed on thirty pregnant woman equally divided into three groups, group I, ten uncomplicated pregnant women with normal blood pressure consider as control, group II, ten preeclamptic women com-plicated by IUGR and group III, ten normotensive pregnant women complicated by IUGR. The maternal serum was ana-lyzed for KP-10 levels and TNFa, while, the maternal urine was analyzed for protein detection. Also, gestational age, fetal birth weight, placental weight, BMI, and MAB were measured. Results: The present findings revealed significant decrease in maternal serum KP-10 levels in both of group II (p<0.05) and group III (p<0.01) rather than group I. Moreover, KP-10 was positively correlated with fetal birth weight and placental weight in group II and group III, while, negatively correlated with protienuria in group II and TNFa  in group II and group III. However, no correlations were found with gestational age, BMI, and mean arterial blood pressure in all groups.
Conclusion: These results propose that the decrease in KP-10 may be responsible for the pathogenesis that underlying the development of IUGR with preeclampsia and normotensive IUGR. So, its measurement might be helpful as a new biomar-ker in predicting poor placental dysfunction and adverse pregnancy outcome.