title: The responsiveness of isolated human hand vein endothelial cells in normal pregnancy and in pre-eclampsia.
abstract: 1. Human hand vein endothelial cells were isolated from blood obtained by traumatic venepuncture. Cells were identified as endothelial by staining with endothelium-specific antibodies. The subject groups studied were (i) non-pregnant, (ii) pregnant (mean, 35 weeks gestation) and (iii) pre-eclamptic women (mean, 36 weeks gestation). 2. Fura-2 was used to measure agonist-induced responses in intracellular Ca2+ in single endothelial cells isolated and maintained in vitro. All of the cells examined responded to adenosine triphosphate (ATP) with a large transient increase in Ca2+ followed by a sustained plateau. 3. The responses to ATP were significantly larger in the cells from pregnant women than in those from non-pregnant and pre-eclamptic women, but no other differences were observed. The amplitudes of the responses to ATP were (means +/- s.e.m.) 0.56 +/- 0.04, 1.42 +/- 0.24 and 0.65 +/- 0.09 fura-2 ratio units for cells from non-pregnant, pregnant and pre-eclamptic subjects, respectively. 4. In cells isolated from non-pregnant subjects, the amplitude of the responses to carbachol, histamine and bradykinin were all smaller than those activated by ATP: 5.1, 13.9 and 4.4 %, respectively. Not all cells responded to these agonists: 25 % responded to carbachol, 70.5 % responded to histamine and 12.5 % responded to bradykinin. Sixty-five per cent of the cells from normotensive pregnant subjects responded to bradykinin compared with 25 % in the non-pregnant and 13.9 % in the pre-eclamptic subjects. 5. These data suggest that there may be differences in the responsiveness of venous endothelial cells in pregnancy and that pre-eclamptic cells behave differently.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Physiological Sciences and Obstetrics & Gynaecology, The Medical School, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mahdy
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Otun
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dunlop
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Gillespie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001920:Bradykinin / Q000494:pharmacology; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D002217:Carbachol / Q000494:pharmacology; D002469:Cell Separation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000098:blood supply*; D006632:Histamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D018721:Muscarinic Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000187:drug effects; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000502:physiology; D014680:Veins / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D018721:Muscarinic Agonists; D006632:Histamine; D002217:Carbachol; D001920:Bradykinin; D002118:Calcium