Pre-eclampsia is one of the most frequent complications of pregnancy, however, little is known about its aetiology. Insufficient adaptation of the decidual and intramyometrial portions of the spiral arterioles in preeclampsia results in reduced utero-placental blood flow, leading to local placental hypoxia. Pre-eclampsia is pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) of unknown etiology. Pre-eclampsia can be quite serious as it can lead to various complications both for the mother and the baby. In fact, preeclampsia and eclampsia, severe forms of PIH, are the leading cause of infant and maternal death in India. Hypertension complicates an estimated 6-8% of all pregnancies. Significant risk factors identified in univariate analysis included pre pregnancy body mass index (BMI > 25) (OR = 11.27), history of chronic hypertension (OR = 8.65), history of diabetes (OR = 11.0), history of renal disease (OR = 7.98), family history of hypertension (OR = 5.4), history of pre-eclampsia in earlier pregnancy (OR = 9.63), and multiple pregnancy (OR = 4.85). Cytokines are major contributors in pathogenesis of pre eclampsia. Several studies confirm a significant increase (p<0.01) in circulating TNF-α levels in the last trimester of pregnancy, compared to the non-pregnant status. Significantly increased serum concentrations (p<0.001) were also found in pregnant patients with preeclampsia, compared to normotensive pregnant women. Conclusion: Preeclampsia is an exacerbation of a generalized inflammatory response, physiologically present in the third trimester of pregnancy. TNF-α pro inflammatory cytokine can be a potential marker of the severity of the preeclamptic syndrome, without being an indicator of the fetal status at birth.