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Updated: Aug 20, 2026
Assessment of Maternal Vascular Remodeling During Pregnancy in the Mouse Uterus
Published on: December 5, 2015
Endothelial cell function enhancement in a late normal human pregnancy
Anders Per Faber-Swensson1, Stephen Patrick Michael O'Callaghan, William Allen Willcox Walters
1School of Medical Practice and Population Health, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
Objective:
To assess endothelial cell function throughout normal human pregnancy.
Design:
Longitudinal observational study.
Population:
Pregnant women attending antenatal clinics and female nursing staff.
Methods:
Flow mediated dilatation (FMD) was measured by high resolution ultrasound and used as a surrogate measure for endothelial cell function and measured in pregnant women and in non-pregnant female controls. Measurements were performed throughout normal pregnancies in each trimester.
Results:
Mean FMD was increased by 80% and 64% in the third trimester compared to the first and second trimesters, respectively, and by 92% compared to the mean FMD of the non-pregnant controls. The increased FMD in the third trimester was demonstrated to be statistically significant in comparison with all the above groups by two-sample t-tests (P < 0.01 for all comparisons).
Conclusion:
Endothelial cell function, measured by ultrasound assessment of FMD, is enhanced in late normal human pregnancy.
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