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Increased serum phosphodiesterase activity in women with pre-eclampsia

B E Pinheiro da Costa¹, C Scocco, C E Poli de Figueiredo

¹Programa de Pós-graduação em Medicina e Ciências da Saúde (Nefrologia), Instituto de Pesquisas Biomédicas/Faculdade de Medicina/Hospital São Lucas, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil. bart@pucrs.br

BJOG : an International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology

|April 28, 2006

Abstract

Objective:

To measure the activity of serum phosphodiesterase (PDE) in pre-eclampsia.

Design:

Case-control study.

Setting:

Nephrology Laboratory and Obstetrics Unit at São Lucas Hospital from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Sample:

Twenty-nine normal and 28 pregnant women with pre-eclampsia.

Methods:

Serum was collected from women with pre-eclampsia, at the time of diagnosis, and from gestation-matched controls. Circulating PDE activity was assessed by measuring consumption of the substrate thymidine 5'-monophosphate p-nitrophenyl ester and expressed as PDE units/l.

Main Outcome Measures:

Serum PDE Activity.

Results:

Mean substrate consumption was higher in pre-eclamptic condition (V(max)= 15.8 +/- 1.4 versus 12.7 +/- 0.9 U/L, P= 3.7 x 10(-14)).

Conclusion:

These data suggest that altered PDE activity may play a role in pre-eclampsia endothelial dysfunction.

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