Abstract:Objective To investigate the predictive value of peripheral blood vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) combined with lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) for disease severity in preeclamptic pregnant women.Methods Medical records of 82 preeclamptic pregnant women admitted to the Xi'an Third Hospital from April 2022 to July 2024 were analyzed. The patients were divided into a preeclampsia group (44 cases) and a severe preeclampsia group (38 cases) based on the severity of preeclampsia. The levels of VCAM-1 and the positive rate of LFA-1 in peripheral blood were compared between the two groups. The effects of VCAM-1 and LFA-1 in peripheral blood on the severity of preeclampsia and their predictive value for the severity of preeclampsia were determined.Results VCAM-1 levels and the positive rate of LFA-1 in peripheral blood were significantly lower in the preeclampsia group compared with the severe preeclampsia group (P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in uterine artery blood flow indices, including RI and PI, between the preeclampsia and severe preeclampsia groups (P > 0.05). Multivariable stepwise logistic regression analysis (P = 0.05 for including variables and P = 0.10 for excluding variables) identified elevated peripheral blood VCAM-1 [O^R = 3.740 (95% CI: 1.987, 7.040) ] and LFA-1 [O^R = 4.108 (95% CI: 2.182, 7.734) ] as independent risk factors for severe preeclampsia (P < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that peripheral blood VCAM-1, LFA-1, and their combination predicted severe preeclampsia with sensitivities of 78.15% (95% CI: 0.703, 0.869), 74.63% (95% CI: 0.635, 0.821), and 85.69% (95% CI: 0.762, 0.933), and specificities of 69.02% (95% CI: 0.605, 0.773), 78.85% (95% CI: 0.712, 0.863), and 63.27% (95% CI: 0.549, 0.712), respectively.Conclusion Peripheral blood VCAM-1 and LFA-1 levels are significantly elevated in patients with preeclampsia and correlate closely with disease severity, indicating their potential utility in predicting the severity of preeclampsia.