Uterine venous, peripheral venous, and radial arterial levels of prostaglandins E and F in women with pregnancy-induced hypertension.

Patients with pregnancy-induced hypertension have higher prostaglandin (PG) F concentrations in radial arterial blood (0.39 +/- 0.03 ng/ml) than control subjects (0.24 +/- 0.03 ng/ml) and higher (PGE plus PGF) concentrations in uterine venous blood obtained at the time of cesarean section (1.62 +/- 0.18 versus 1.03 +/- 0.12 ng/ml in the control group). The present results suggest that both PGE and PGF production by the uterus in patients with pregnancy-induced hypertension is increased but that catabolism of PGF by the lung is compromised; this permits larger quantities of the vasoconstrictor PG to pass into the systemic circulation, where it may cause hypertension directly or indirectly, by association with other vasoactive substances.