Collagen of umbilical cord vein and its alterations in pre-eclampsia

• Published in: Acta biochimica polonica Vol. 49; no. 2; pp. 451 - 458
• Main Authors: Romanowicz, Lech, Jaworski, Stefan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Poland 01-01-2002
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Blotting, Western; Collagen - analysis; Collagen - chemistry; Female; Hot Temperature; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Pre-Eclampsia - blood; Pre-Eclampsia - metabolism; Pregnancy; Solubility; Umbilical Veins - chemistry
• ISSN: 0001-527X; 1734-154X
• DOI: 10.18388/abp.2002_3804

The state of the vascular system of the mother and of placenta is known to exert a great influence on intrauterinal development of the fetus. Pre-eclampsia is the most common pathological syndrome connected with pregnancy. Since collagen is one of the main constituents of the vessel wall a comparison was made with collagen content and its molecular polymorphism in umbilical cord veins of newborns from healthy and pre-eclamptic mothers. It was found that umbilical cord veins of newborns from mothers with pre-eclampsia contained 18% less collagen than those of the newborns from normal pregnancies. This decrease was accompanied by a slight decrease of collagen solubility, but all its types (I, II, IV, V and VI) were present. However, the umbilical vein wall of newborns from mothers with pre-eclampsia contained relatively less of type I and more of type III collagen than the normal umbilical cord. These differences may be connected with a disturbance of blood flow in fetus of a woman with pre-eclampsia.