Maternal and umbilical venous adrenomedullin and nitric oxide levels in intrauterine growth restriction.
OBJECTIVE
To verify whether adrenomedullin (AM) and nitric oxide (NO) concentrations are changed in the maternal and fetal circulation in pregnancies complicated by intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) compared to normal pregnancies, and to determine any relationship between them.


METHODS
Forty-six small for gestational age (SGA) and 34 appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants were included in the study. Umbilical and maternal venous AM and NO concentrations were determined.


RESULTS
Umbilical NO concentrations in SGA infants (mean +/- SD; 176.2 +/- 75.8 micromol/L) were significantly greater than in AGA infants (143.4 +/- 39.2 micromol/L) (p = 0.015). However, umbilical AM concentrations were similar in SGA and AGA infants with 14.2 +/- 4.4 pmol/mL and 14.5 +/- 6.2 pmol/mL, respectively (p > 0.05). There was no relationship between NO and AM levels in umbilical blood (r = 0.09, p = 0.40). No difference was found between either AM or NO levels in the maternal plasma of the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
We suggest that NO is increased in the fetoplacental circulation in SGA infants probably as a response to decreased blood flow, whereas AM is not. Additionally, increased NO in the fetoplacental circulation was found to be independent from AM secretion.
Department of Pediatrics, Gazi University Medical School, Ankara, Turkey.
Aysima
A
Akturk
E Esra
EE
Onal
Yildiz
Y
Atalay
Muhittin
M
Yurekli
Deniz
D
Erbas
Nurullah
N
Okumus
Canan
C
Turkyilmaz
Suna
S
Unal
Ebru
E
Ergenekon
Esin
E
Koc
Ozdemir
O
Himmetoglu
D053607:Adrenomedullin / Q000097:blood*; D000328:Adult; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age; D008297:Male; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000097:blood*; D021041:Placental Circulation; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*
D053607:Adrenomedullin; D009569:Nitric Oxide