[The change of serotonin of venous blood in pregnancy induced hypertension].

OBJECTIVE

To provide evidence to the hypothesis that the involvement of serotonin (5-HT) takes part in the pathogenesis of pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH).

METHOD

31 pregnant women with PIH and 20 normotensive pregnant women were studied in the present study. Venous plasma 5-HT and platelet 5-HT from all subjects were measured with spectrometry.

RESULTS

The mean platelet 5-HT level in PIH group (24.69 +/- 17.79 micrograms/L) was less than that in normotensive group (91.06 +/- 47.77 micrograms/L) (P < 0.01). The mean plasma 5-HT level in PIH group (48.65 +/- 19.29 micrograms/L) was significantly higher than that in normotensive group (35.39 +/- 12.88 micrograms/L) (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Plasma levels of 5-HT in PIH were elevated significantly, this might be largely caused by the increased release of 5-HT by platelet. The results show that elevated level of 5-HT in patients with PIH might take part in the pathogenesis of PIH.