Abstract: Objective：The purpose of this study was to detect the serum levels of visfatin，lipid metabolism and insulin resistance in preeclampsia（PE），and to discuss their roles in the pathogenesis of PE. Methods：A total of 96 women with PE and 96 normal pregnant women as control participated in this study. All cases are admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital for delivery from July 2010 to January 2011. Patients with PE were divided into severe PE group（n=61） and mild PE group（n=35）. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA） was used to detect the levels of visfatin. Radioimmunoassay assay was used to detect the levels of fasting insulin. Homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance index（HOMA-IR）. Furthermore，clinical and biochemical parameters were recorded，such as body mass index（BMI），systolic blood pressure（SBP），diastolic blood pressure（DBP），and to conduct the correlation analysis. Results：①The level of serum visfatin in PE group significantly elevated than that in control group，the level in severe PE group significantly elevated than that in mild PE group（P＜0.05）. ② In PE groups，the serum visfatin were positively related to the serum TG，TC，LDL，ApoB，FINS and HOMA-IR，while the serum visfatin was negatively related to the serum HDL（P＜0.05）. ③In PE groups，the serum levels of visfatin were positively related to the serum TG，SBP，DBP，and HOMA-IR（P＜0.01）. Conclusions：Elevated visfatin expression in serum may be associated with the pathogenesis and development of preeclampsia. Dyslipidemia and insulin resistance may be associated with elevated visfatin expression in patients with PE，and may be related to participation in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.

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