POSSIBLE RELATION BETWEEN LATE PREGNANCY HYPERTENSION AND 5-HYDROXYTRYPTAMINE LEVELS IN MATERNAL BLOOD

The concentrations of the vasoactive substance, 5‐hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT), were estimated in whole blood samples from 12 pregnant women with hypertension in the third trimester. These were compared with a control group of 15 normotensive pregnant women of the same gestation. The hypertensive patients were admitted for observation and the whole blood 5‐HT. estimated again after four days bed rest: in all patients the blood pressure had, by this time, returned to within the normal range. No significant difference was found between the mean blood 5‐HT concentrations of the hypertensive and the normotensive groups. A small, but not statistically significant, rise occurred in the hypertensive group after four days bed rest. Thus this study gave no evidence that 5‐HT is implicated in hypertension in pregnancy. Copyright © 1979, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved