ISSN:
1471-0528
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Objective To determine whether circulating levels of cell adhesion molecules, markers of endothelial damage and leucocyte activation, were increased in pre-eclampsia.Design Serum was prepared from peripheral venous blood and stored at –70°C. The cell adhesion molecules, VCAM-1, E-Selectin and ICAM-1, were measured by ELISA.Setting Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Infirmary, Glasgow.Subjects Sixteen primigravid women with pre-eclampsia were recruited for the study. The pre-eclampsia group were compared with 18 healthy primigravid women with uncomplicated pregnancies.Results The pre-eclamptic group had significantly higher serum levels of the cell adhesion molecule VCAM-1 (t= 3.673; P 〈 0.001). There were no significant differences in the adhesion molecules ICAM-1 or E-Selectin.Conclusions Endothelial damage and dysfunction are common to all the pathological features of pre-eclampsia. This study shows that concentrations of cell adhesion molecules, which indicate leucocyte-endothelial attachment and activation, are elevated in the serum of patients with pre-eclampsia. Such increases in soluble circulating cell adhesion molecules may reflect increased expression of these molecules on the endothelium and thereby explain the mechanism for leucocyte activation in pre-eclampsia.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0528.1994.tb13146.x
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