A New Method to Estimate Inhibition Percentage of Endogenous Digitalis in Patients with Pre-eclampsia

Background: Pre-eclampsia is an idiopathic pregnancy disorder characterized by appearance proteinuria and hypertension, with poorly understood etiology. It has been linked to a variety of system abnormalities, including ion transport disorders in neonatal, maternal, and placental cell lines. A new method was described to evaluate the inhibition percentage of endogenous digitalis in plasma of pre-eclampsia patients compared with normal pregnancies, with the estimation of sensitivity and specificity of the proposed test. Methods: This was a case-control study consisting of ۱۳۰ cases that were divided into three groups, ۵۵ normal pregnancies (positive control), ۳۰ non-pregnant women (negative control), and ۴۵ preeclampsia (patients). The new method included the estimation of the percentage inhibition of endogenous digitalis by measuring specific enzyme activity of Na-K ATPase for the patient and positive control. The results were analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS®) software version ۲۶.۰. A p-value of≤ ۰.۰۵ was considered significant. Results: In the pre-eclampsia patient, the specific activity of Na-K ATPase was significantly lower with mean= ۰.۲۳۹ mg/g±۰.۰۴۳ compared to the control group which was ۰.۳۹۷ mg/g±۰.۰۲۱, p<۰.۰۰۱. While the result of inhibition percentage of endogenous digitalis showed significantly higher in the pre-eclampsia patient (mean= ۳۵.۸۵۲ mg/g %±۲.۶۹۲%) compared to the control group (mean=۱۷.۹۶۴%±۱.۷۸۴), with a p< ۰.۰۰۱. Conclusions: Pre-eclampsia is linked with lower erythrocyte sodium pump activity significantly in pre-eclampsia patients than in normal pregnancies. Also, results show the inhibited percentage of endogenous digitalis elevation in patients with pre-eclampsia compared with normal pregnancy.

Keywords:

Endogenous Digitalis , Hypertension , Inhibition Percentage , Pre-eclampsia.