Altered responsiveness of isolated arteries from pre-eclamptic subjects

The aetiology and pathology of pre-eclampsia, a hypertensive disorder peculiar to human pregnancy, is ill-defined. Numerous studies have reported that various forms of clinical and experimental hypertension as well as pre-eclamptic conditions are associated with increased peripheral vascular resistance (1-5), although the underlying mechanism is not clear. The present study presents evidence showing that the increased peripheral vascular resistance in pre-eclampsia is associated with direct functional changes within the vascular smooth muscle cell.