Serum from healthy pregnant women reduces oxidative stress in human umbilical vein endothelial cells

This study was conducted to compare the effects of serum from healthy pregnant women and that from pregnant women with pre-eclampsia on oxidative stress in endothelial cells in culture. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were incubated with serum from 18 pre-eclamptic, 18 healthy pregnant and 18 healthy non-pregnant women for 24h. The levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) and lipid peroxides (LPOs) were measured in endothelial cell lysates. Measurement of malondialdehyde in combination with 4-hydroxyalkenals has been used as an indicator of LPOs. Serum from healthy pregnant women decreased significantly the LPO content in HUVECs in comparison with serum from pre-eclamptic women and healthy non-pregnant women (30.7±6.6 compared with 39.3±10.9 and 41.0±12.7pmol/mg of protein respectively; P<0.003 and P<0.01 respectively). No differences in GSH content between the three groups (18.3±2.1nmol/mg of protein for healthy pregnant, 19.2±3.3nmol/mg for pre-eclamptic and 18.3±2.0nmol/mg for healthy non-pregnant women) were found. Thus serum from normal pregnant women contains a factor(s) that decreases oxidative stress in human endothelial cells. This mechanism might be altered in pre-eclampsia.