Increased serum phosphodiesterase activity in women with pre-eclampsia

Objective To measure the activity of serum phosphodiesterase (PDE) in pre-eclampsia. Design Case-control study. Setting Nephrology Laboratory and Obstetrics Unit at Sao Lucas Hospital from Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Sample Twenty-nine normal and 28 pregnant women with pre-eclampsia. Methods Serum was collected from women with pre-eclampsia, at the time of diagnosis, and from gestation-matched controls. Circulating PDE activity was assessed by measuring consumption of the substrate thymidine 5'-monophosphate p-nitrophenyl ester and expressed as PDE units/l. Main outcome measures Serum PDE Activity. Results Mean substrate consumption was higher in pre-eclamptic condition (V-max= 15.8 +/- 1.4 versus 12.7 +/- 0.9 U/L, P= 3.7 x 10(-14)). Conclusion These data suggest that altered PDE activity may play a role in pre-eclampsia endothelial dysfunction.