Increased uterine arterial pressure and contractility of perfused swine uterus after treatment with serum from pre-eclamptic women and endothelin-1.
The present study was designed to examine the effects of ET-1 (endothelin-1) and serum from PE (pre-eclamptic), HP (healthy pregnant) and HNP (healthy non-pregnant) women on uterine arterial perfusion pressure and uterine contractility. Swine uteri (n = 25) were perfused for a period of up to 11 h, with the aim being to preserve a viable organ. Various concentrations of ET-1 as well as serum from PE, HP and HNP women (n = 10 per group) were administered to the perfused swine uteri and IUP (intrauterine pressure) and IAP (intra-arterial pressure) were recorded. ET-1 produced dose-dependent increases in IUP and IAP. The ET-1 concentration in serum was higher in serum from PE women than in HP and HNP women (P > 0.05). Administration of all serum samples had a contractile effect on the swine uterus, with the greatest effect being seen in HNP women (12.8 +/- 5.3 mmHg), followed by PE (9.06 +/- 4.2 mmHg) and HP (6.1 +/- 4.1 mmHg) women. Statistically significant differences were observed between HNP and PE women (P = 0.048), and PE and HP women (P = 0.021). Increases in IAP following administration of serum from PE women (48.8 +/- 20.0 mmHg) were significantly higher (P = 0.024) compared with the effect of serum from HP women (28.4 +/- 13.7 mmHg). In conclusion, the findings show that serum from PE women has significant vasoconstrictive and oxytocic effects compared with serum from HP women. In pre-eclampsia, the balance between vasorelaxing and vasoactive substances is disturbed.
Maltaris
Theodoros
T
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.
Scalera
Fortunato
F
Schlembach
Dietmar
D
Hoffmann
Inge
I
Mueller
Andreas
A
Binder
Helge
H
Goecke
Tamme
T
Hothorn
Torsten
T
Schild
Ralf L
RL
Beckmann
Matthias W
MW
Dittrich
Ralf
R
D000818:Animals; D001158:Arteries; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D019332:Endothelin-1 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D010477:Perfusion; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D013552:Swine; D014590:Uterine Contraction / Q000187:drug effects*; D014599:Uterus / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014666:Vasomotor System / Q000503:physiopathology*
D019332:Endothelin-1