Collagen types and fibronectin in the uterine muscle of normal and hypertensive pregnant patients.

Specimens from the uterine wall were obtained from 16 patients at 31 to 40 weeks of pregnancy: 10 underwent surgical procedures for a hypertensive disorder and six for abnormality of the birth canal or faulty presentation. Collagen types I, III, and V and fibronectin antibodies were used for immunohistologic studies. Collagen types I and V were located mainly around single cells, but type III and fibronectin were found mainly around cell bundles. Collagenous structures in the uterine muscle of patients with hypertensive disorder in pregnancy were torn. Abundant fibronectin fluorescence was detected in the lobuli within the disrupted tissue. Disruption of the uterine structure correlated with the amount of urinary protein excreted.