Pre-eclampsia complicates approximately 5–7% of pregnancies and it may be deleterious to both maternal and fetal health. In a prospective study, we investigated plasma endothelin (ET)-1 concentration within the 24th and 36th gestational week in non-smoking pregnant women. Thirty women fulfilled the criteria for the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists: de novo arterial hypertension after the 20th gestational week in at least two separate measurements and proteinuria of more than 300mg/l in a random specimen. For comparison, we analysed blood samples from 125 non-pre-eclamptic pregnant women. ET-1 concentrations were higher in pre-eclamptic pregnancies at both time points (mean±S.D.: 1.07±2.00 versus 0.54±0.56pg/ml, P = 0.045 at 24th week; 0.75±1.20 versus 0.44±0.45pg/ml, P = 0.023 at 36th week). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves revealed a significant interaction between ET-1 plasma concentrations at the 36th week and the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia [area under the curve (AUC)±S.E.M.: 0.657±0.049, P = 0.008] and a cut-off value at 0.30pg/ml. Multivariate analysis showed a 4.6-fold higher chance (95% confidence interval: 1.7–12.1, P = 0.002) for the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia in pregnant women with ET-1 plasma concentration higher than 0.30pg/ml at the 36th week. Interaction between ET-1 plasma concentration at the 24th week and diagnosis of pre-eclampsia was not significant in ROC curve analysis (AUC±S.E.M.: 0.594±0.071, P = 0.278). Interestingly, we found a strong positive correlation between ET-1 concentration in the 24th and 36th week in linear regression analysis in pre-eclamptic (r = 0.99, P<0.001) and non-pre-eclamptic pregnancies (r = 0.61, P<0.001) with a slightly, non-significant decrease from the 24th to 36th week (for group means see above), indicating individual plasma ET-1 levels even in non-pre-eclamptic pregnancies. Linear regression analysis showed no correlation between blood pressure or urine protein excretion and ET-1 plasma concentration in non-pre-eclamptic pregnant women. In conclusion, our prospective study indicates that the ET system is, in contrast to most other forms of human hypertension, activated in pre-eclamptic pregnant women.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
September 2002
-
Cover Image
Cover Image
Conference Article|
September 01 2002
Endothelin system in normal and hypertensive pregnancy Available to Purchase
Torsten SLOWINSKI;
Torsten SLOWINSKI
*Department of Nephrology, University Hospital Charité, Humboldt University of Berlin, D-10117 Berlin, Germany
†Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Free University of Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
Search for other works by this author on:
Hans-H. NEUMAYER;
Hans-H. NEUMAYER
*Department of Nephrology, University Hospital Charité, Humboldt University of Berlin, D-10117 Berlin, Germany
Search for other works by this author on:
Thomas STOLZE;
Thomas STOLZE
*Department of Nephrology, University Hospital Charité, Humboldt University of Berlin, D-10117 Berlin, Germany
†Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Free University of Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
Search for other works by this author on:
Gabriele GOSSING;
Gabriele GOSSING
‡Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Charité, Humboldt University of Berlin, D-10117 Berlin, Germany
Search for other works by this author on:
Horst HALLE;
Horst HALLE
‡Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Charité, Humboldt University of Berlin, D-10117 Berlin, Germany
Search for other works by this author on:
Berthold HOCHER
*Department of Nephrology, University Hospital Charité, Humboldt University of Berlin, D-10117 Berlin, Germany
†Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Free University of Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
Dr B. Hocher, Department of Nephrology, University Hospital Charité, Humboldt University of Berlin, Schumannstrasse 20-21, 10098 Berlin, Germany (e-mail [email protected]).
Search for other works by this author on:
Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Online ISSN: 1470-8736
Print ISSN: 0143-5221
© 2002 The Biochemical Society and the Medical Research Society
2002
Clin Sci (Lond) (2002) 103 (s2002): 446S–449S.
Citation
Torsten SLOWINSKI, Hans-H. NEUMAYER, Thomas STOLZE, Gabriele GOSSING, Horst HALLE, Berthold HOCHER; Endothelin system in normal and hypertensive pregnancy. Clin Sci (Lond) 1 September 2002; 103 (s2002): 446S–449S. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/CS103S446S
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Sign in to your personal account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Could not validate captcha. Please try again.
Biochemical Society Member Sign in
Sign InSign in via your Institution
Sign in via your InstitutionGet Access To This Article
Open Access for all
We offer compliant routes for all authors from 2025. With library support, there will be no author nor reader charges in 5 journals. Check here |
![]() |