Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the predictive value of fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio (FAR) and blood urea nitrogen-to-albumin ratio (BAR) in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia in the first trimester. Furthermore, the study evaluated their relationship with disease severity and composite perinatal adverse outcomes (CAPO).
Methods: The present retrospective cross-sectional study comprised 144 pregnant women with gestational ages between 20 and 39 weeks, who were divided into three groups: mild preeclampsia (n = 48), severe preeclampsia (n = 48), and a normotensive healthy control group (n = 48). The first trimester blood samples were utilized to calculate the FAR and BAR values. Comparisons were made between the groups, and the relationship of these indices with disease severity and CAPO was evaluated.
Results: FAR and BAR values were considerably elevated in both the mild and severe preeclampsia cohorts in comparison to the control group (p < 0.001). However, there were no statistically significant differences in FAR and BAR values between the mild and severe preeclampsia subgroups (p > 0.05). ROC analysis yielded moderate to high diagnostic performance for both markers in the detection of preeclampsia. Nevertheless, both FAR and BAR exhibited a lack of statistical significance in relation to the occurrence of composite perinatal adverse outcomes (CAPO), with p > 0.05.
Conclusions: FAR and BAR have been identified as biomarkers that may facilitate the timely diagnosis of preeclampsia in the first trimester of pregnancy. However, since these markers do not demonstrate significant benefits in predicting the severity of the disease or adverse perinatal outcomes, further research is required in larger prospective cohorts.

DOI: 10.7754/Clin.Lab.2025.250826