Serum
levels of sFlt-1 and sEng rise weeks before the appearance of overt clinical
manifestations of pre-eclampsia and correlate with the severity of
disease.7 – 9 In addition, when these proteins are injected into rodents,
the animals develop systemic endothelial dysfunction resulting in a syndrome
that phenocopies maternal pre-eclampsia, including severe
hypertension, proteinuria, glomerular endotheliosis, cerebral oedema,
and features resembling HELLP syndrome (haemolysis, elevated liver
enzymes, low platelets)