Abstract: Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy-specific idiopathic disease that causes an increase in maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality worldwide. At present, the cause is not completely clear, and it is difficult to predict changes by a single biomarker. Termination of pregnancy is the only effective treatment for patients with PE who show no improvement or progressive deterioration after active treatment. Scholars believe that vascular endothelial cell injury is the main pathogenesis of PE. Recent studies have found that abnormal expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in plasma of PE patients is involved in the occurrence and development of the disease. Upon binding of TNF-α to related receptors, activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway results in upregulation of the downstream target protein myeloperoxidase (MPO). The release of MPO after excessive activation of neutrophils, and its increased expression level is a key factor of vascular endothelial cell injury. To review the research progress on the mechanism of TNF-αregulating MPO in the pathogenesis of PE.

Key words: Pre-eclampsia, Neutrophil infiltration, P38 mitogen-activated protein kinases, Tumor necrosis factor-alpha, Peroxidase