Iontophoresis of vasoactive drugs. Effect on peripheral blood flow during pregnancy

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether iontophoretic administration of the vasoactive agents noradrenaline (NA) and angiotensin (AII) combined with measurement of skin blood flow with a laser Doppler technique could serve as a predictive method for pre-eclampsia. Nine healthy non-pregnant women, 9 healthy pregnant women and 9 pre-eclamptic patients were investigated. A significant reduction of skin blood flow was induced by NA in all three groups and by AII in the non-pregnant group. There was no significant difference between healthy pregnant and pre-eclamptic patients in the degree of reduction of blood flow with respect to NA and AII administration.