title: Association of antithrombin activity with plasma aldosterone concentration and plasma renin activity in pregnant women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the hypothesis that the blood antithrombin (AT) activity is correlated with the plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC), the plasma renin activity (PRA), and/or the PAC-to-PRA ratio during the late stage of pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The AT activity, PAC, and PRA were determined within 7 days prior to delivery in 47 women, consisting of 30 normotensive and 6 hypertensive women with singleton pregnancies and 11 normotensive women with twin pregnancies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median values of the 47 women were 86% of the normal activity level for the AT activity, 442 pg/mL for the PAC, 3.7 ng/mL/h for the PRA, and 108 pg/mL per ng/mL/h for the PAC-to-PRA ratio. Women with an AT activity ≤86% had a significantly lower PRA and a higher PAC-to-PRA ratio than women with an AT activity >86% (3.5 ± 3.0 vs. 6.6 ± 4.7 ng/mL/h for PRA, p = 0.008; 156 ± 109 vs. 97 ± 46 pg/mL per ng/h for PAC-to-PRA ratio, p = 0.021). The AT activity was significantly correlated positively with the PRA and negatively with the PAC-to-PRA ratio.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The existence of a common pathophysiological background between a reduced AT activity and a reduced PRA during the late stage of pregnancy was suggested.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan. yamataka@med.hokudai.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.forename: Itsuko
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Furuta
authors.forename: Mamoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morikawa
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Hisanori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Minakami
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000450:Aldosterone / Q000097:blood*; D000991:Antithrombins / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D046110:Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced / Q000097:blood; D010953:Plasma Volume; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D059285:Pregnancy, Twin / Q000097:blood; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012083:Renin / Q000097:blood*; D012084:Renin-Angiotensin System
chemical_list: D000991:Antithrombins; D000450:Aldosterone; D012083:Renin