Plasminogen activator of urokinase type and its inhibitor of placental type in hypertensive pregnancies and in intrauterine growth retardation: possible markers of placental function.

OBJECTIVE

Our purpose was to study the plasma concentrations of the plasminogen activator of urokinase type and its specific inhibitor of placental type in pregnancies complicated by hypertension or fetal growth retardation.

STUDY DESIGN

Consecutive patients with pregnancy-induced hypertension (n = 17), mild preeclampsia (n = 17), severe preeclampsia (n = 19), and intrauterine growth retardation (n = 19) were studied. Blood samples were obtained just before delivery (mean 2 days). Women with normal pregnancies (n = 40), longitudinally followed between the tenth and fortieth gestational weeks, served as a control group.

RESULTS

The plasma concentrations of the urokinase type antigen were significantly lower in women with severe preeclampsia or intrauterine growth retardation than those in women with normal pregnancies (p < 0.001). In all four groups with complicated pregnancies the antigen concentrations of the urokinase type and its inhibitor were significantly correlated with both placental weight and birth weight.

CONCLUSIONS

The plasma concentration of the urokinase type antigen would appear to reflect placental function, and both the antigen and its inhibitor concentrations are correlated with placental and fetal growth.