PROSTACYCLIN VERSUS THROMBOXANE METABOLITE EXCRETION - CHANGES IN PREGNANCY AND LABOR

Urinary TXB2 and 6-keto-PGF1α were measured by high pressure liquid chromatography combined with radioimmunoassay, in order to determine whether or not urinary excretion of 6-keto-PGF1α and TXB2 followed a same pattern in pregnancy and labor. The excretion of 6-keto-PGF1α was higher than that of TXB2 in both non-pregnant and pregnant women, but the ratio between them increased in pregnancy. The urinary excretion of both 6-keto-PGF1α and TXB2 excretion was significantly increased (p < 0.001) in pregnancy. Labor was associated with a much wider inter-individual variation in the excretion of 6-keto-PGF1α and TXB2 than observed in pregnancy and in non-pregnant women. Also, the ratio between the two compounds varied more in labor than in pregnancy. The data indicate that the urinary levels of these two compounds do not follow a single well-determined pattern in pregnancy and labor. © 1990.