Thromboxane in Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension.

Lee, Kyu Chang; Lee, Kyoung Min; Lee, Chang Hoon; Kim, So Joung; Yun, Byoung Il; Chung, Doo Yong

Original Article

Korean Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 2004;47(9):1680-1683.
Published online September 1, 2004.

Thromboxane in Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension.

Kyu Chang Lee, Kyoung Min Lee, Chang Hoon Lee, So Joung Kim, Byoung Il Yun, Doo Yong Chung

¹Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, College of Medicine, Konkuk University, Chung-Ju, Korea.
²Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, Konkuk University, Chung-Ju, Korea.
³Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, Konkuk University, Chung-Ju, Korea.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
High thromboxane level evidence supports pivotal involvement of TxA2 in pathophysiology of pregnancy induced hypertension and provides a strong rationale for pursuing TxA2-blocking strategies in drug development. METHODS: The stable metabolites of TXA2 (Thromboxane B2) in maternal blood of 12 patients with mild preeclampsia, 4 patients with severe preeclampsia and 14 normal parturients were measured by competitive enzyme immunoassay. RESULTS: TxB2 concentrations were not increased in mild preeclampsia (101 +/- 12 pg/mL, n=12) as compared with normal pregnancy (150 +/- 15 pg/mL, n=14), but they were significantly increased in severe preeclampsia (454 +/- 102 pg/mL, p<0.0001, n=4). CONCLUSION: Maternal plasma thromboxane is increased only in severe preeclampsia. Thus, increased thromboxane A2 biosynthesis correlates with disease severity and may have a pathogenetic role in pregnancy-induced hypertension. These findings provide a rationale for the use of aspirin in the treatment as well as in the prevention of this disorder.

Key Words: Preeclampsia, Thromboxane, Enzyme immunoassay