Abstract: Objective：The purpose of the study was to detect the serum levels of adiponectin，insulin resistance and lipid metabolism in pre-eclampsia（PE），and to discuss their roles in the pathogenesis of PE. Methods：The level of
adiponectin in serum was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay，and lipid and lipoprotein were detected with biochemistry analyzer in a control group of thirty nonpregnant women，in sixty normal third-trimester pregnant women，and in sixty cases of women with PE. Results：①Women with early-onset had a lower serum adiponectin level than its control. group Women with late-onset had a lower serum adiponectin level than its control（P＜0.05）. Women with early-onset PE had a lower serum adiponectin level than late-onset PE group（P＜0.05）. The differences were still significant after correction for haematocrit. ②In early-onset and late-onset PE group，the levels of total cholesterol（TC），triglyeride（TG），low density lipoprotein cholesterol （LDL），apolipoproteinB（ApoB） insulin and insulin resistance index（IRI） were higher than that of their controls，while high density lipoprotein cholesterol（HDL） and apolipoproteinA1（ApoA1） were lower than that of their controls（P＜0.05）.③In early-onset and late-onset PE groups，the serum adiponectin was negatively related to the serum TG，systolic pressure（SP），diastolic pressure（DP），mean arterial blood pressure（MAP） and IRI，while the serum apdionectin was positively related to the serum HDL. Conclusions：Decreased adiponectin expression in serum may be involved in the pathogenesis of PE. Dyslipidemia and insulin resistance may be associated with decreased adiponectin expression in patients with PE，and may be involved in the pathophysiology of hypoadiponectinemia led to development of PE.

Key words: Pre-eclampsia, Adiponectin, Insulin resistance, Lipids, Blood pressure