title: Angiotensin II levels in hypertensive and normotensive pregnancies.
abstract: We measured circulating angiotension II by radioimmunoassay in women with pregnancy-induced hypertension (n = 54), and compared these values with those obtained in women with normal pregnancy (n = 18) and in non pregnant women (n = 20). Pregnant women had statistically significantly higher plasma angiotensin II [mean (SD): 41.3 (12.6) pg/ml] than non-pregnant women [29.2 (11.3) pg/ml; P less than 0.004]. Angiotensin II concentrations in women with pregnancy-induced hypertension [mean (SD): 31.7 (16.2) pg/ml] were, on average, 25% lower than in normal pregnancy (P less than 0.003) and resembled those obtained in non-pregnant women. The lowest angiotensin II levels were found in women with more severe forms of pregnancy-induced hypertension, such as proteinuric or superimposed pregnancy-induced hypertension. Review of the published studies on angiotensin II and our data suggest that the conflict among studies on angiotensin II levels in pregnancy-induced hypertension is largely due to the heterogeneity of the study populations in the various reports.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanssens
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Keirse
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Spitz
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: van Assche
mesh_terms: D000804:Angiotensin II / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D000804:Angiotensin II