title: Endothelial cell function enhancement in a late normal human pregnancy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess endothelial cell function throughout normal human pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pregnant women attending antenatal clinics and female nursing staff.
  
  
  METHODS
  Flow mediated dilatation (FMD) was measured by high resolution ultrasound and used as a surrogate measure for endothelial cell function and measured in pregnant women and in non-pregnant female controls. Measurements were performed throughout normal pregnancies in each trimester.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean FMD was increased by 80% and 64% in the third trimester compared to the first and second trimesters, respectively, and by 92% compared to the mean FMD of the non-pregnant controls. The increased FMD in the third trimester was demonstrated to be statistically significant in comparison with all the above groups by two-sample t-tests (P < 0.01 for all comparisons).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Endothelial cell function, measured by ultrasound assessment of FMD, is enhanced in late normal human pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Practice and Population Health, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Anders Per
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Faber-Swensson
authors.forename: Stephen Patrick Michael
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: O'Callaghan
authors.forename: William Allen Willcox
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Walters
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D002320:Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000502:physiology*