Maternal plasma prostacyclin concentration in pre-eclampsia and other pregnancy complications.

To study the involvement of antiaggregatory and vasodilatory prostacyclin (PGI2) in various pregnancy complications, we measured the concentrations of 6-ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha, a stable hydration product of PGI2, using a specific radioimmunoassay, in plasma samples from 123 women between 22 and 41 weeks of complicated or normal pregnancy. The levels of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha (mean +/- SE) in pre-eclampsia (267.0 +/- 26.6 pg/ml, n = 22), diabetic pregnancy (266.6 +/- 19.2 pg/ml, n =21), twin pregnancy (310.7 +/- 28.2 pg/ml, n = 10), threatened premature labour (285.9 +/- 23.2 pg/ml, n = 26), placenta praevia or placental abruption (248.9 +/- 24.5 pg/ml, n = 6), hepatosis gravidarum (249.3 +/- 15.0 pg/ml, n = 3) or in pregnancies complicated by intrauterine fetal growth retardation (296.9 +/- 34.2 pg/ml, n = 14) or fetal death (267.5 +/- 20.9 pg/ml, n = 6) did not differ from each other or from the 6-keto-PGF1 alpha levels in normal pregnancy (266.4 +/- 15.0 pg/ml, n = 22). Furthermore, the 6-keto-PGF1 alpha levels bore no relation to the gestational age, maternal drug use (insulin, glucocorticoids, antihypertensive drugs) or to the sex, birth weight or condition of the newborn infant, or to the placenta weight.