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Increased plasma levels of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide in pre‐eclampsia
Author(s) -
HOLST N.,
ØIAN P.,
AUNE B.,
JENSSEN T. G.,
BURHOL P. G.
Publication year - 1991
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.1471-0528.1991.tb13486.x
Subject(s) - vasoactive , vasoactive intestinal peptide , gestation , medicine , eclampsia , radioimmunoassay , placenta , endocrinology , gestational age , perfusion , pregnancy , obstetrics , fetus , biology , neuropeptide , receptor , genetics
Objective— To investigate the plasma vasoactive peptide (VIP) levels in pregnancies complicated by pre‐eclampsia. Design— A prospective clinical study. Setting— University Department of Obstetrics, Tromso, Norway. Subjects— 18 women with untreated gestational proteinuric hypertension between 32 and 40 weeks gestation (13 primigravid) and 8 women with normal pregnancies of similar gestational age. Interventions— Fasting blood samples on two occasions, 10 min apart. Main outcome measures— Plasma VIP measured by radioimmunoassay. Results— Mean maternal plasma VIP was 13–9 (SEM 1–7) pmol/l in those with pre‐eclampsia and 4–4 (SEM 0–5) pmol/l in normal pregnancies ( P<0.0001 ). Conclusion— The increased levels of VIP in pre‐eclampsia may represent a powerful compensatory mechanism to restore vascular perfusion of various organs, including the uterus and placenta.