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Time course of changes in arterial and venous function during normal and hypertensive pregnancies in humans
Author(s) -
Yoo JeungKi,
Badrov Mark B.,
Syed Owais,
Parker Rosemary S.,
Stickford Abigail S.,
Okada Yoshiyuki,
Best Stuart A.,
Levine Benjamin D.,
Fu Qi
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2018.32.1_supplement.911.11
Subject(s) - medicine , pregnancy , blood pressure , gestation , gestational hypertension , obstetrics , supine position , hemodynamics , cardiology , genetics , biology
Gestational hypertensive disorders (GHD) affect about 10% of pregnant women in the United States, and the most severe form (pre)eclampsia is the leading cause of maternal and fetal death and morbidity. The underlying mechanisms remain uncertain; however, impaired adaptation in maternal vascular function may be one contributing factor. We evaluated the time course of change in arterial and venous function before, early, late, and after pregnancy in women without a history of GHD (controls; n=26), women with a history of GHD (GHD history group; n=16), and women who developed GHD during the study (developed GHD group; n=7). Vascular and hemodynamic measurements were longitudinally performed prior to pregnancy (mid‐luteal phase), during early pregnancy (4–8 weeks of gestation), late pregnancy (32–36 weeks), and postpartum (6–10 weeks after delivery). A repeated‐measures analysis using linear mixed models was used for data analysis. At pre‐pregnancy, there was no difference in age, supine blood pressure, and heart rate among groups. Brachial artery endothelium‐dependent flow‐mediated dilation (FMD) showed significant differences among groups (group time interaction; P=0.03, Time; P=0.03, Group; P=0.01). Specifically, women who developed GHD in the study had lower FMD during early and late pregnancy (mean±SE; pre: 4.60±1.11%, early: 4.96±0.98%, late: 4.69±1.04%, and post: 5.64±0.97%) compared to controls (4.85±0.62%, 7.40±0.51%, 9.44±0.52%, and 6.91±0.53%) and the GHD history group (4.88±0.83%, 6.69±0.69%, 7.09±0.71%, and 5.25±0.79%). There were no significant interactions in forearm vascular resistance (FVR) or calf venous compliance (plethysmography; group time interaction P=0.9 and 0.6, respectively) among groups, while FVR decreased during pregnancy in all subjects. Our findings suggest that impaired endothelial functional adaptation during pregnancy, rather than regional (limb) vascular resistance and venous compliance is associated with the occurance of GHD in humans. Support or Funding Information This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health grant (R21HL088184), the American Heart Association Grant‐in‐Aid (13GRNT16990064), the Harry S. Moss Heart Trust, and the Texas Health Resources Research & Education Institute Award This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .