title: Oxidative stress in pathological pregnancies.
abstract: Oxidative stress (OS) plays a role in pregnancy at risk of pre-eclampsia, diabetes and premature labour. We measured three markers of OS: total antioxidant capacity (TAC), thiolyte capacity and pro-oxidant capacity in 45 women: 15 normal pregnancies, 17 pathological pregnancies (pre-eclampsia and pregestational diabetes) and 13 delivered pre-term. Plasma TAC (μmol/ml) values in patients with pathological pregnancies (235.67 ± 70.08) (p(1) = 0.0086) and pre-term labour (243.51 ± 50.52) (p(2) = 0.0479) were significantly reduced as compared with the controls (306.78 ± 70.08). Thiolyte capacity (μmol/ml) in the pathological pregnancies (326.03 ± 78.24) (p(3) = 0.0029) and in pre-term labour (335.94 ± 76.63) (p(4) = 0.0084) groups were significantly reduced compared with the control group (417.48 ± 39.76) (p < 0.05). Pro-oxidant capacity (mg/100 ml) in the pathological pregnancies (94.11 ± 26.13) (p(5) = 0.00034) and in pre-term labour (87.18 ± 20.28) (p(6) = 0.00044) groups were significantly higher compared with the controls (60.27 ± 6.33). Elevated OS values were seen in pathological pregnancies. This supports the important role of OS in diseases in pregnancy, particularly pre-eclampsia, diabetes and pre-term birth.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Reproductive and Perinatal Medicine, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Clerici
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Slavescu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fiengo
authors.forename: T T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Kanninen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Romanelli
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Biondi
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Di Renzo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature / Q000378:metabolism*; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011254:Pregnancy in Diabetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds