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ACUTE‐PHASE C 56 ‐FORMING ABILITY AND CONCENTRATIONS OF COMPLEMENT COMPONENTS IN NORMOTENSIVE AND HYPERTENSIVE PREGNANCIES
Author(s) -
Johansen K. A.,
Williams J. H.,
Stark J. M.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1981.tb01024.x
Subject(s) - complement (music) , medicine , chemistry , obstetrics , anesthesia , biochemistry , complementation , gene , phenotype
Summary A prospective study of 61 women who were normotensive at booking revealed an increased incidence of C 56 ‐forming ability in those who later developed hypertension. Similar changes were found before delivery in a separate group of women admitted with latent hypertension and in each of 11 women with severe pre‐eclampsia and a surviving fetus. The C 56 ‐forming ability, an acute phase feature, often preceded the hypertension and the findings suggest an indirect relation between complement changes and the mechanism causing hypertension in pregnancy. Concentrations of complement components in hypertension and normotensive pregnancies were also compared with each other and with those of normal healthy non‐pregnant women. The hypertension patients had increased total alternative pathway function and higher factor B concentrations. The C 56 ‐negative sera from hypertension patients tended to have C7 concentrations higher than normal whereas C 56 ‐positive patients had higher C5 concentrations. The aetiological and pathological implications are discussed.