Determination Of Malondialdehyde In Normal And Diabetic Pregnancies

Abstract

It is known that platelet hyperaggregation observed in diabetic patients is, at least in part, due to an increased activity of the endoperoxide-thromboxane forming metabolic pathway. It was interesting to determine the platelet malondialdehyde /MDA/ production in normal and diabetic pregnancies. Following individuals have been studied: /I/ twenty-five healthy non-pregnant volunteers; /II/ thirty women in third trimester of non-complicated pregnancies; /III/ twenty two diabetic pregnant women without retinopathy; /IV/ fifteen diabetic pregnant women with retinopathy. Platelet MDA production following N-ethyl-maleimide induced aggregation was measured according to Stuart et al. The mean value of MDA production was similar in volunteers and normal pregnant women /SDM, 7.07±0.73 nmoles MDA per 109 platelets; 7.22±0.81/. The mean MDA production in diabetic women without retinopathy was slightly but nonsignificantly higher than that in normal pregnant women /7.57±1.02; p>0.05/. The corresponding value in diabetic women with retinopathy was significantly higher than the values in the other three groups /8.47±0.82; p<0.01/. These data suggest that the activation of prostaglandin synthetic pathway /measured by MDA/ is significantly increased in diabetic pregnancy complicated by retinopathy. The increase of platelet prostaglandin synthesis in diabetic pregnancy might play an important role in initiating and/or promoting the small-vessel complications of placenta.