The role of antioxidant vitamins in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy
-
Olivera Kontic-Vucinic
Abstract
Preeclampsia (PE) is an important and a leading cause of both maternal morbidity and adverse perinatal outcomes. Despite progress in perinatal medicine for patients with an established diagnosis of PE, a therapeutic approach other than termination of pregnancy was unsuccessful. Women predisposed to PE begin pregnancy with a certain degree of endothelial dysfunction, a lesion that precedes shallow placentation. The proposed sequence of events comprises endothelial dysfunction, defective trophoblast invasion, and consequential impaired placental perfusion, immune maladaptation and inflammation. The possible link between these could be oxidative stress by excessive production of reactive oxygen species coupled with inadequate or overwhelmed antioxidant defense mechanisms. These defense mechanisms, involving antioxidant vitamins and enzyme systems, may restrain the extent of damage caused by oxidative stress. Markers of oxidative stress in women with established PE were confirmed. Accordingly, these findings support an expected beneficial effect of antioxidant therapy in the prevention of PE and other pregnancy-related disorders. Numerous studies have been carried out in order to investigate this possible and simple prophylactic and/or therapeutic approach in prevention of oxidative stress and eventual reduction of PE and its perinatal complications. In this review the role of vitamin antioxidants in prevention and treatment of PE is discussed. Despite the logic behind using antioxidant vitamins, the data, thus far, are at best conflicting.
©2008 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- Does globalization and change demand a different kind of perinatal research?
- Recommendations and guidelines for perinatal practice
- Intrauterine restriction (IUGR)
- Review article
- The role of antioxidant vitamins in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy
- Original articles – Obstetrics
- The fetus, not the mother, elicits maternal immunologic rejection: lessons from discordant dizygotic twin placentas
- Do risk factors for elective cesarean section differ from those of cesarean section during labor in low risk pregnancies?
- Obstetric antecedents for preterm delivery
- Post-delivery oxidative stress in women with preeclampsia or IUGR
- Evidence supporting proteolytic cleavage of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) protein in amniotic fluid
- Original articles – Fetus
- Value of a single early third trimester fetal biometry for the prediction of birth weight deviations in a low risk population
- Comparison of six sonographic signs in the prenatal diagnosis of spina bifida
- Original articles – Newborn
- Relationships between umbilical cord arterial blood pH levels at delivery and Bayley Psychomotor Development Index scores in early childhood
- Head circumference and long-term outcome in small-for-gestational age infants
- Hypocalcemia is common in the first 48 h of life in ELBW infants
- Total body water in small- and appropriate- for gestational age newborns
- Below median birth weight in appropriate-for-gestational-age preterm infants as a risk factor for bronchopulmonary dysplasia
- Letter to the editor
- Congenital lupus erythematosus affecting both twins
- Obituary Gösta Rooth
- The death of Prof. Gösta Rooth
- Erratum
- Hematological profile of Korean very low birth weight infants
- Congress Calander
- Congress Calendar
- Announcement
- Announcement
Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- Does globalization and change demand a different kind of perinatal research?
- Recommendations and guidelines for perinatal practice
- Intrauterine restriction (IUGR)
- Review article
- The role of antioxidant vitamins in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy
- Original articles – Obstetrics
- The fetus, not the mother, elicits maternal immunologic rejection: lessons from discordant dizygotic twin placentas
- Do risk factors for elective cesarean section differ from those of cesarean section during labor in low risk pregnancies?
- Obstetric antecedents for preterm delivery
- Post-delivery oxidative stress in women with preeclampsia or IUGR
- Evidence supporting proteolytic cleavage of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) protein in amniotic fluid
- Original articles – Fetus
- Value of a single early third trimester fetal biometry for the prediction of birth weight deviations in a low risk population
- Comparison of six sonographic signs in the prenatal diagnosis of spina bifida
- Original articles – Newborn
- Relationships between umbilical cord arterial blood pH levels at delivery and Bayley Psychomotor Development Index scores in early childhood
- Head circumference and long-term outcome in small-for-gestational age infants
- Hypocalcemia is common in the first 48 h of life in ELBW infants
- Total body water in small- and appropriate- for gestational age newborns
- Below median birth weight in appropriate-for-gestational-age preterm infants as a risk factor for bronchopulmonary dysplasia
- Letter to the editor
- Congenital lupus erythematosus affecting both twins
- Obituary Gösta Rooth
- The death of Prof. Gösta Rooth
- Erratum
- Hematological profile of Korean very low birth weight infants
- Congress Calander
- Congress Calendar
- Announcement
- Announcement
