Alterations of red blood cells' polyamines during pregnancy and neonatal period.

Red blood cell polyamines were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography. Spermidine and spermine continued to increase with pregnancy and retained a high level during 24-35 weeks of gestation, then decreased at term; putrescine, however, kept the low nonpregnant level during pregnancy and puerperium. At delivery, umbilical blood showed a significantly higher polyamine level than maternal blood (p less than 0.005 or p less than 0.001). In the neonatal period, each polyamine showed a slight increase on the 1st day after birth, then spermidine and spermine decreased day by day, but putrescine kept the same level. Alterations of polyamines seemed to have some relation to the erythropoiesis in bone marrow and rapid cell proliferations.