Objective: The contribution of oxidative stress to pathogenesis of Hyperemesis gravidarum (HEG) have been demonstrated in some studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic value of ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) in HEG patients and investigate whether oxidative stress caused increased serum IMA in HEG.
Methods: Till May 2025, the PubMed, Google Scholar, and Embase were searched for studies that assessed maternal serum IMA in pregnant HG patients and the pregnant non-HG controls. Results comprised the standardarized mean difference (SMD) in the IMA in the serum of the two groups with a 95% Confidence Interval (CI). The IMA values were analyzed using the Revman 5.1 random effect.
Results: Seven studies were included. 385 had HEG and 422 did not have HEG. All of the included studies were conducted In Turkey. The age of the participants ranged from 20 years to 37 years. The mean gestational age ranged from 8.8 to 10.28 weeks. The analysis revealed a significantly higher IMA in HG patients as compared to non-HEG pregnant (SMD: 1.69, CI: 0.77-2.61, I2=97%, P value <0.00001) . IMA value correlated with the inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein.
Conclusions: The meta-analysis revealed significantly increased IMA level in HEG pregnant women. Therefore, further studies to investigate the role of the IMA may be valuable for the development of future diagnostics or therapeutics of HEG. The high levels of IMA in HEG can be considered as a reflection of increased oxidative stress.