Estrogen-Induced Uterine Vasodilation in Pregnancy and Preeclampsia
10.1097/FM9.0000000000000132
- VernacularTitle:Estrogen-Induced Uterine Vasodilation in Pregnancy and Preeclampsia
- Author:
Yan LI
1
;
Baoshi HAN
;
Salmeron Alejandra GARCIA
;
Jin BAI
;
Dong-bao CHEN
Author Information
1. Translational Medical Research Centre, The First Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250014, China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Estrogens;
Uterine vasodilation;
Nitric oxide;
Hydrogen sulfide;
Pregnancy;
Preeclampsia
- From:
Maternal-Fetal Medicine
2022;04(1):52-60
- CountryChina
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Normal pregnancy is associated with dramatically increased estrogen biosynthesis whose role is believed to raise uterine blood flow to facilitate the bi-directional maternal-fetal exchanges of gases (O 2 and CO 2), to deliver nutrients, and exhaust wastes to support fetal development and survival. Constrained uterine blood flow in pregnancy is a leading cause of preeclampsia with fetal growth restriction, rendering investigations of uterine hemodynamics to hold a high promise to inform pathways as targets for therapeutic interventions for preeclampsia. The mechanisms of estrogen-induced uterine vasodilation in pregnancy have long been attributed to enhanced endothelium production of nitric oxide, but clinical trials targeting this pathway that dominates uterine hemodynamics have achieved no to little success. Emerging evidence has recently shown a novel proangiogenic vasodilatory role of hydrogen sulfide in regulating uterine hemodynamics in pregnancy and preeclampsia, provoking a new field of perinatal research in searching for alternative pathways for pregnancy disorders especially preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction. This minireview is intended to summarize the nitric oxide pathway and to discuss the emerging hydrogen sulfide pathway in modulating estrogen-induced uterine vasodilation in pregnancy and preeclampsia.
