von Wowern Emma, Olofsson Per
a Institution of Clinical Sciences Malmö, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University , Malmö , Sweden.
J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2018 Sep;31(17):2293-2298. doi: 10.1080/14767058.2017.1341483. Epub 2017 Jun 28.
Dark chocolate has shown beneficial effects on cardiovascular health and might also modulate hypertensive complications in pregnancy and uteroplacental blood flow. Increased uteroplacental resistance is associated with systemic arterial stiffness. We aimed to investigate the short-term effect of flavonoid-rich chocolate on arterial stiffness and Doppler blood flow velocimetry indexes in pregnant women with compromised uteroplacental blood flow.
Doppler blood flow velocimetry and digital pulse wave analysis (DPA) were performed in 25 women pregnant in the second and third trimesters with uterine artery (UtA) score (UAS) 3-4, before and after 3 days of ingestion of chocolate with high flavonoid and antioxidant contents. UtA pulsatility index (PI), UtA diastolic notching, UAS (semiquantitative measure of PI and notching combined), and umbilical artery PI were calculated, and DPA variables representing central and peripheral maternal arteries were recorded.
Mean UtA PI (p = .049) and UAS (p = .025) significantly decreased after chocolate consumption. There were no significant changes in UtA diastolic notching or any DPA indexes of arterial stiffness/vascular tone.
Chocolate may have beneficial effects on the uteroplacental circulation, but in this pilot study, we could not demonstrate effects on arterial vascular tone as assessed by DPA.
黑巧克力已显示出对心血管健康有益，并且可能还会调节妊娠高血压并发症及子宫胎盘血流。子宫胎盘阻力增加与全身动脉僵硬度有关。我们旨在研究富含类黄酮的巧克力对子宫胎盘血流受损的孕妇动脉僵硬度和多普勒血流测速指标的短期影响。
对25名孕中期和孕晚期、子宫动脉（UtA）评分（UAS）为3 - 4的孕妇，在摄入高类黄酮和抗氧化剂含量巧克力3天前后，进行多普勒血流测速和数字脉搏波分析（DPA）。计算UtA搏动指数（PI）、UtA舒张期切迹、UAS（PI和切迹综合的半定量测量）以及脐动脉PI，并记录代表母体中央和外周动脉的DPA变量。
食用巧克力后，平均UtA PI（p = 0.049）和UAS（p = 0.025）显著降低。UtA舒张期切迹或任何动脉僵硬度/血管张力的DPA指标均无显著变化。
巧克力可能对子宫胎盘循环有有益影响，但在这项初步研究中，我们未能证明其对通过DPA评估的动脉血管张力有影响。
