Abstract
Objective: The purpose of our study was to evaluate the hypothesis that pregnancy is associated with decreased platelet-activating factor-acetylhydrolase activity in women with normotension, but not in women with hypertension. Study Design: We evaluated plasma platelet-activating factor-acetylhydrolase activity in normal nonpregnant women (n = 10), normal pregnant women (n = 24), pregnant women with pregnancy-induced hypertension-preeclampsia (n = 7), and a group of men with normotension (n =10). Results: Platelet-activating factor-acetylhydrolase activity was lower at 32 weeks of gestation during normal pregnancies compared with nonpregnant controls (p < 0.001); however, in women with pregnancy-induced hypertension-preeclampsia, platelet-activating factor-acetylhydrolase activity was not decreased. Platelet-activating factor-acetylhydrolase activity in men was higher than in all women (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Pregnant women with normotension may be refractory to pressor agents such as angiotensin II in part because of the decrease in plasma platelet-activating factor-acetylhydrolase activity, which results in an increase in platelet-activating factor. In contrast, enzyme activity is not decreased in pregnant women with hypertension, who have increased sensitivity to various pressor agents.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 50-54 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | American journal of obstetrics and gynecology |
Volume | 168 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1993 |
Keywords
- Platelet-activating factor-acetylhydrolase
- estrogens
- preeclampsia
- smoking
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Obstetrics and Gynecology