In:
Clinical Science, Portland Press Ltd., Vol. 93, No. 5 ( 1997-11-01), p. 413-421
Abstract:
1. Serum nitric oxide (NO) levels (determined by its products of oxidation) were assessed in nonpregnant women, normal pregnant women and patients suffering from mild pre-eclampsia (MPE), severe pre-eclampsia (SPE), chronic hypertension (CHT) and CHT with pre-eclampsia (CHT+PE). The levels of NO products were significantly reduced during pregnancy in MPE (P & lt; 0.001), CHT+PE (P & lt; 0.01) and SPE (P & lt; 0.05). Significant reductions of NO products were also observed in puerperium (P & lt; 0.001) in all groups except CHT+PE (P & lt; 0.05). 2. In normal pregnancy, three events were related to NO levels: (1) negative correlations were found between the levels of nitrite (r = −0.73, P = 0.0003), nitrate (r = −0.53, P = 0.017) and the number of weeks of gestation; (2) in the caesarean section group, the levels of NO at puerperium were significantly lower (P & lt; 0.05) than those during pregnancy; and (3) there was a significant reduction in NO levels in the pregnant women carrying male fetuses as compared with female fetuses (P & lt; 0.05). 3. In SPE, the patients with a family history of hypertension had lower levels of NO compared with the patients without such a history (P & lt; 0.05). 4. A negative correlation was observed between systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and NO levels in MPE (r = −0.62, P = 0.013 and r = −0.68, P = 0.0049 respectively) and SPE (r = −0.72, P = 0.004 and r = −0.53, P = 0.037 respectively). 5. In SPE, positive correlations were observed between platelet count and nitrite (r = 0.67, P = 0.006) and nitrate levels (r = 0.56, P = 0.028). 6. In MPE, patients with anti-hypertensive treatment showed significantly (P & lt; 0.05) higher levels of NO compared with the non-treated patients. 7. NO may be important in the physiopathology of hypertension during pregnancy, although several factors may affect its levels.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0143-5221
,
1470-8736
Language:
English
Publisher:
Portland Press Ltd.
Publication Date:
1997
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