Skin capillary density changes in normal pregnancy and pre-eclampsia.
BACKGROUND
Many abnormalities are known to occur in the microcirculation in essential hypertension, including reduction in capillary density or rarefaction. Peripheral vasodilatation and angiogenesis are critical components of the physiological adaptation in normal pregnancy.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the hypothesis that defective angiogenesis, reflected in capillary rarefaction, may be implicated in the clinical syndrome of pre-eclampsia.


METHODS
We used intravital capillary video-microscopy to study functional (baseline) and structural (after maximization with venous congestion) skin capillary density in 22 healthy normotensive pregnant women and compared our findings with those in 22 non-pregnant age-matched healthy controls and 11 women whose pregnancies were complicated by pre-eclampsia.


RESULTS
We found that both functional and structural capillary density increased during normal pregnancy. Capillary density in pre-eclamptic women was significantly lower both at baseline and after maximization. Skin capillary density appeared to be inversely correlated with blood pressure during pregnancy and in pre-eclampsia.


CONCLUSIONS
A low capillary density may account, in part, for the failure of blood pressure to decrease in pre-eclamptic pregnancies, and may reflect the maladaptive cardiovascular response that is part of the pre-eclampsia syndrome.
Hasan
Khaled M
KM
Clinical Pharmacology Unit, St George's Hospital Medical School, London, UK.
Manyonda
Isaac T
IT
Ng
Fu Siong
FS
Singer
Donald R
DR
Antonios
Tarek F
TF
D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002196:Capillaries / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D012867:Skin / Q000098:blood supply*