title: Vitamin D restores angiogenic balance and decreases tumor necrosis factor-α in a rat model of pre-eclampsia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Deficiency of vitamin D is correlated with pre-eclampsia (PE), a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, and is characterized by angiogenic imbalance and inflammation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether vitamin D supplementation can restore the angiogenic balance and ameliorate inflammation in a rat model of PE.
  
  
  METHODS
  PE was induced using l-nitroarginine methylester. Normal pregnant and PE-induced rats were supplemented with vitamin D on gestation days 14-19.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Blood pressure was significantly increased in PE-induced rats compared with normal pregnant rats (P < 0.05), and vitamin D supplementation ameliorated this difference. In addition, rats from the PE group had lower vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF; P < 0.01), and higher plasma-soluble FMS-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α; P < 0.01 for both) compared with the normal pregnant group. The vitamin D treatment group had significantly increased VEGF, and reduced sFlt-1 and TNF-α compared with the untreated PE group. Moreover, vitamin D supplementation was able to reduce the oxidative stress by lowering the plasma oxidative stress marker malondialdehyde.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vitamin D supplementation plays an important role in restoring angiogenic balance and reducing inflammation in pregnancy-induced hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.|Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Fourth Clinical Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, Hospital of Heilongjiang Province, Nangang Branch, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Ruifang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: An
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D007249:Inflammation / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000378:metabolism; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism*; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D018836:Inflammation Mediators; D015850:Interleukin-6; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; C467498:vascular endothelial growth factor A, rat; D014807:Vitamin D
keywords: pregnancy-induced hypertension; soluble FMS-like tyrosine kinase-1; tumor necrosis factor-α; vascular endothelial growth factor; vitamin D