Transactions of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal MedicineElevated plasma endothelial microparticles: Preeclampsia versus gestational hypertension
Section snippets
Patient and control population
This prospective, case-control study was conducted with 52 women with preeclampsia, 20 women with gestational hypertension, and 38 healthy pregnant women who were recruited from our university hospital from July 2002 to February 2003. Approval from the University of Miami Institutional Review Board was obtained, and each woman provided informed consent before enrollment. The Working Group Report on High Blood Pressure in Pregnancy defined the criteria that were used for the selection of study
Results
No significant difference was noted between study and control women with respect to age or gravity. However, there were statistical differences in the gestational age at study enrollment between the patients with preeclampsia and gestational hypertension relative to the control subjects. There were 9 cases of severe preeclampsia that met inclusion criteria. As anticipated by the diagnostic criteria that were used for recruitment of study participants, the MAP pressures were elevated
Comment
The true cause of preeclampsia continues to be debated. In recent years, the theory of endothelial dysfunction has been gaining momentum, with the identification of circulating soluble endothelial adhesion molecules (such as VCAM-1, ICAM-1, CD31, E-selectin, and fibronectin) in the plasma of women with preeclampsia.16., 17., 18., 19., 20., 21. These adhesion molecules are expressed constitutively on the endothelial cell surface and are cytokine-inducible, which is known to regulate the
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2018, Vascular PharmacologyCitation Excerpt :This suggests that there are common pathophysiologies between the two diseases involving a pro-inflammatory state, disturbances in myocardial function/structure, and unfavourable lipid metabolism. One study looking at EMPs found that not only are levels higher in hypertensive patients compared to normotensive patients but that they are also higher in women with PE compared to women with gestational hypertension [9]. Placentae from patients with preeclampsia have reduced levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and thus less nitric oxide.
Presented at the Twenty-Fourth Annual Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, February 2-7, 2004, New Orleans, La.