[Urinary kallikrein levels during pregnancy].

Whether to determine the urinary kallikrein (UKK) levels in the second trimester of pregnancy is valuable in predicting of gestosis, especially of hypertension, was studied using samples of urine obtained from 500 cases of pregnant women without gestosis, 50 pregnant women with gestosis and 50 cases of pregnancy with a variety of complications other than gestosis. The main results obtained were as follows: In normal pregnancy, UKK levels elevated with pregnancy for a peak in the first to the second trimester of pregnancy, tapering off thereafter. The UKK level was significantly lower in 20 pregnant women with gestosis especially in hypertensive type than in pregnant women without gestosis (p less than 0.001). Pregnant women with normal blood pressure who suffered no gestosis and had an extremely low UKK level, accounted for 9.8% of all pregnant women studied. This figure includes a large number of those who were in a high risk group for the onset of gestosis. From these findings, UKK was considered to be useful as one of the factors used in predicting the onset of hypertension in association with gestosis and we are now studying pregnant women in the 20th and 30th week of pregnancy in more detail.