Role of Oxidative Stress in Intrauterine Growth Restriction

Abstract

Aims: The objectives of this study were to determine the role of oxidative stress in intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and to investigate the possible molecular mechanism(s) leading to oxidant stress in IUGR. Methods: Parameters of the oxidative and antioxidant system were evaluated in maternal plasma, umbilical cord blood, and placental tissue of pregnant women with IUGR fetuses. The same samples were obtained from women with normal pregnancies and were evaluated. Results: The results of this study indicate that while the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and xanthine oxidase (XO) were higher in maternal plasma, umbilical cord plasma, and placental tissues of the patients with IUGR when compared to the control group [MDA: 142.8 ± 18.0 vs. 86.4 ± 22.5 nmol/ml, 151.6 ± 25.8 vs. 93.3 ± 7.4 nmol/ml, and 0.72 ± 0.19 vs. 0.42 ± 0.09 nmol/mg protein, respectively (for all p < 0.0005); XO: 1.251 ± 0.674 vs. 0.20 ± 0.019 mIU/ml (p < 0.0005), 1.97 ± 0.73 vs. 0.237 ± 0.143 mIU/ml (p < 0.0005), and 0.023 ± 0.0012 vs. 0.012 ± 0.004 mIU/ml (p < 0.025), respectively], the levels of antioxidant potential were identified to be lower in maternal plasma, umbilical cord plasma, and placental tissues of the patients with IUGR: 63.3 ± 11.9 vs. 198.0 ± 31.9 U/ml (p < 0.0005), 32.6 ± 3.7 vs. 206.5 ± 27.1 U/ml (p < 0.0005), and 0.56 ± 0.23 vs. 1.16 ± 0.29 U/ml (p < 0.0005), respectively. On the other hand, the activities of adenosine deaminase of the IUGR patients were higher than those of the control group in maternal plasma (204.8 ± 103.5 vs. 115.6 ± 31.8 U/l, p < 0.01) and umbilical cord blood samples (584.2 ± 285.2 vs. 147.9 ± 44.8 U/l, p < 0.0005) which may suggest that oxidative stress has a role in IUGR. Moreover, an increased superoxide dismutase activity in maternal plasma (128.2 ± 37.4 vs. 88.8 ± 16.6 U/ml, p < 0.005) and cord blood (162.1 ± 37.0 vs. 116.6 ± 20.7 U/ml, p < 0.005) and an increased glutathione peroxidase activity in maternal plasma (1.83 ± 0.26 vs. 1.47 ± 0.31 IU/ml, p < 0.01) and placental tissue (0.007 ± 0.0015 vs. 0.003 ± 0.0012 IU/ml, p < 0.0005) were detected, while decreased catalase activities in cord blood (23,717 ± 3,538 vs. 16,397 ± 2,771 IU/ml, p < 0.0005) and placental tissue (47.2 ± 17.2 vs. 70.7 ± 11.3 IU/ml, p < 0.005) were identified in IUGR groups. Conclusions: In the light of the results of this study, it can be stated that the oxidative stress increases in patients with IUGR. Providing high-risk patients with an antioxidant may be useful in the prevention or treatment of IUGR, although it is a condition with no certain treatment outcome.

Fruit and vegetable intake influences the association between exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and a marker of oxidative stress in pregnant women

“…In other words, pregnant women can Fruit and vegetable and PAH exposure with MDA H Kim et al easily be exposed to oxidative stress, possibly as a result of PAH exposure while cooking and as a result of conception itself. Considering that maternal oxidative stress has a major role in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia (Raijmakers et al, 2004;Kim et al, 2005a) through endothelial dysfunction or adverse pregnancy outcomes such as intrauterine growth retardation (Karowicz-Biliń ska et al, 2002;Biri et al, 2007) and low-birth weight delivery (Scholl and Stein, 2001;Matsubasa et al, 2002;Kim et al, 2005b), the finding that high intakes of fruit, vegetables and vitamin C in pregnant women can negate the relationship between PAH exposure and MDA level is very encouraging. In this study, the influence of vitamin C on the relationship between PAH exposure and oxidative stress no longer existed when we performed regression analysis by dividing pregnant women into users of vitamin C supplements and non-users, whereby total vitamin C intake was calculated by summing vitamin C intake from supplements.…”

Oxidative stress in pregnancy and fertility pathologies

“…The IUGR group showed de-creased antioxidant levels, leading toward the conclusion that neonates with IUGR have significant deficiency in antioxidant defenses and significant increased lipid peroxidation (Hracsko et al 2008). The same conclusions were found regarding different oxidative stress biomarkers, namely, malondialdehyde (MDA) and xanthine oxidase (XO) (Biri et al 2007), leading to the general conclusion that increased oxidative stress and IUGR are correlated.…”

Epigenetic Programming of Cardiovascular Disease by Perinatal Hypoxia and Fetal Growth Restriction

“…Thus, chronic hypoxia and oxidative stress have an important role in the placental dysfunction observed in FGR [15]. Several studies on humans confirm the presence of molecular markers of oxidative stress in the FGR placentae, the fetus, and the mother [16][17][18][19].…”