98-POS

Abstract

Objectives Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, and caffeine is the most studied compound in coffee. Coffee consumption is associated with a decreased risk of preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, and under-perfusion of the placenta is hypothesized to be a component of the etiology of the syndrome. An accepted animal model of preeclampsia is the reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) rat model, which mimics many aspects of the syndrome including increased blood pressure and impaired vascular function. The focus of this study was to investigate if caffeine treatment prevents arterial dysfunction in RUPP rats. Methods Pregnant rats were divided into 3 groups: SHAM operated (SHAM), RUPP and RUPP+caffeine (C; 4.5 mg/day starting at gestational day 0). Maternal mesenteric arteries (MA) were isolated at late gestation and studied in an isobaric arteriograph. Results Myogenic reactivity was increased in MA from RUPP compared to those from SHAM and RUPP+C. MAs from the RUPP rats also showed an increased EC50 to methacholine (ME) indicating impaired endothelial-dependent dilation. In contrast, MA from caffeine treated RUPP rats displayed decreased ME EC50’s similar to SHAM. Arterial pressures were significantly decreased in the RUPP+C compared to RUPP rats. Conclusions RUPP displayed impaired endothelial function as evidence by vessel studies and increased blood pressures. Caffeine treatment improved endothelial function and reduced blood pressures to those of the SHAM. These data suggest a potential protective effect of caffeine consumption on vascular function during pregnancy, and may have relevance to the pregnancy complication preeclampsia. Disclosures B.A. Balser: None. J. Novak: None. R.W. Powers: None. R.J. Ramirez: None.