Even Mild Vitamin C Deficiency May Have Negative Effect On Vascular Function

[Guest guest]

Source:   University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center

(http://www.upmc.edu/)

Date:   Posted 6/7/2002

Even Mild Vitamin C Deficiency May Have Negative Effect On Vascular Function

TORONTO, June 4 ­ Every six minutes, a woman dies of a pregnancy

complication called preeclampsia ­ nine women an hour, according to the

Preeclampsia Foundation. The disorder, which is linked to hypertension and

affects 3 million women a year worldwide, can be equally devastating for

infants.

Now, research being presented at the 13th World Congress of the

International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy by

scientists from the Magee-Womens Research Institute and the University of

Pittsburgh School of Medicine suggests even a mild deficiency in vitamin C

appears to negatively affect vascular elasticity and function ­ a key

symptom of preeclampsia.

³Research is closing in on this menace,² said M. , M.D.,

professor and chairman of research in the department of obstetrics,

gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School

of Medicine, director of the Magee-Womens Research Institute and president

of the International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy.

³But there is still much to do.²

Carl A. Hubel, Ph.D., assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and

reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine,

and his colleagues studied arterial pressure and elasticity in pregnant and

non-pregnant rats that, like humans, are unable to synthesize vitamin C.

Dr. Hubel¹s group found that blood vessel stiffness increased in pregnant

rats when vitamin C concentrations were restricted. Non-pregnant animals

were not similarly affected by vitamin C restriction, however.

These results were observed despite a natural physiologic change initiated

by pregnancy that typically increases blood vessel elasticity, which in turn

affects blood pressure. While researchers have long known that vitamin C

concentrations are decreased in women with preeclampsia, the specific effect

on vascular function remains unclear, according to Dr. Hubel, who is also an

investigator with the Magee-Womens Research Institute.

Women who have previously experienced preeclampsia, also known as toxemia

and characterized by high blood pressure, swollen ankles and the presence of

protein in the urine, have an even greater chance of developing the disorder

in subsequent pregnancies. Other risk factors include maternal age of less

than 25 or more than 35 years and preexisting hypertension, diabetes or

kidney disease.

³Preeclampsia is one of the leading causes of maternal, fetal and neonatal

disability and death,² said Dr. .

Magee-Womens Research Institute, the country¹s first institute devoted to

women and infants, was formed in 1992 by Magee-Womens Hospital of the UPMC

Health System. The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine¹s department

of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences is one of the top three

funded departments by the National Institutes of Health.

Members of the International Society for the Study of Hypertension in

Pregnancy meet formally every two years to exchange ideas and foster

collaboration. Membership includes physicians and researchers in the fields

of obstetrics, gynecology, epidemiology and other public health specialties.