title: Vasospastic action of serotonin on the umbilical artery in normal and preeclamptic patients.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine whether elevated plasma-free-serotonin (5-HT) levels in preeclampsia could evoke abnormal vasoconstriction in the umbilical artery (UmA). Threshold concentrations of 5-HT in the UmA from 12 normal pregnant (NP) women were 5 ng/ml. Plasma-free 5-HT levels in the UmA (14.38 +/- 5.68 ng/ml) in severe preeclampsia (SP) were higher than the threshold value. Plasma-free 5-HT levels in UmA blood (1.6 +/- 1.2 ng/ml) in NP women were lower than the threshold value. There were significant increases in sensitivity to 5-HT in the UmA from SP; the threshold value of 5-HT was low (1.0 ng/ml), and the EC50 value (5.2 +/- 2.4 ng/ml) was significantly lower than that of NP women (13.9 +/- 3.0 ng/ml, p < 0.001). These results strongly suggest that increased plasma-free 5-HT and vascular hypersensitivity to 5-HT in preeclampsia can cause vasospasms and a disturbance of the feto-placental circulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kochi Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021041:Placental Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012701:Serotonin / Q000502:physiology*; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists; D014469:Umbilical Arteries / Q000502:physiology*; D014666:Vasomotor System / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists; D012701:Serotonin