Treatment of hypertension in pregnancy with methyldopa: blood pressure control and side effects.

A total of 242 women with moderate hypertension in pregnancy completed a controlled trial of methyldopa (Aldomet). The hypotensive effect of methyldopa was similar to its action in non-pregnant individuals and greatly reduced the frequency of severe hypertension occurring antenatally and in labour. As pregnancy advanced, an increasing daily dose of methyldopa was needed and there was a greater use of additional hypotensive therapy.

Reversed diurnal blood pressure rhythm in hypertensive pregnancies.

1. Reversal of the normal diurnal blood pressure pattern has been demonstrated in women with severe hypertension and renal impairment in pregnancy (pre-eclampsia). 2.

Fetal outcome in trial of antihypertensive treatment in pregnancy.

242 women completed a controlled trial of methyldopa ('Aldomet') for moderate hypertension in pregnancy. Active treatment was associated with a significantly improved fetal outcome, due in part to a reduced number of mid-pregnancy abortions. There were 9 pregnancy losses in the control group, which included 4 mid-pregnancy abortions, and 1 fetal loss in the treated group.

The in vivo effect of colchicine on the addition of galactose and sialic acid to rat hepatic serum glycoproteins.

Colchicine inhibits the secretion of plasma protein by rat hepatocytes and causes their intracellular accumulation in Golgi-derived secretory vesicles. This study examines whether colchicine affects secretion before or after galactose and sialic acid have been added to the secretory glycoproteins. D-[G-3H] Galactose was injected into rats and was found to be incorporated into serum glycoproteins contained within Golgi-derived secretory vesicles.

Plasma-urate measurements in predicting fetal death in hypertensive pregnancy.

The relation of perinatal mortality to plasma-urate concentrations and blood-pressure was studied in 332 pregnant patients with hypertension. Perinatal mortality was markedly increased when maternal plasma-urate concentrations were raised, generally in association with severe pre-eclampsia of early onset. Plasma-urate was a better indicator than blood-pressure of prognosis for the fetus.

Variability of blood pressure in normal and abnormal pregnancy.

Using an automatic indirect method of measurement, diurnal blood pressure patterns have been studied in normal and hypertensive pregnancies. In the last trimester, normotensive and hypertensive pregnant subjects show small but significant increases of blood pressure that develop especially during the evening and night. This change is more clear-cut for the systolic than the diastolic pressure.

The role of coagulation and fibrinolysis in preeclampsia.

The coagulation and fibrinolytic systems play a key role in maintaining the integrity and patency of the vascular compartment. Pregnancy induces extensive physiological changes in these systems, thus creating an enhanced capacity to produce fibrin and a diminished ability to remove it. Fibrin deposition localized to the uteroplacental circulation is a feature of normal pregnancy.

Colchicine inhibition of plasma protein release from rat hepatocytes.

Colchicine, both in vitro and in vivo, inhibits secretion of albumin and other plasma proteins. In vitro, secretion by rat liver slices is inhibited at 10-minus 6 M with maximal effect at 10-minus 5 M. Inhibition of secretion is accompanied by a concomitant retention of nonsecreted proteins within the slices.

Localization of enzymes involved in polyphosphoinositids metabolism on the cytoplasmic surface of the human erythrocyte membrane.

1. Impermeable inside-out and right-side-out vesicles were prepared from membranes of human erythrocytes. During preparation of each kind of impermeable vesicle, permeable vesicles were also obtained.

Prolactin in hypertensive pregnancy.

Plasma prolactin levels were measured in 68 pregnant women with hypertension at 32 weeks gestation. They were raised in pregnancies with pre-eclamptic features, most significantly in women with a rising plasma urate level. No correlation was found between the level of the untreated blood pressure and prolactin.

Beginnings of village-farming communities in southeastern Turkey-1972.

The mound known as Cayönü Tepesi (38 degrees 16' N; 39 degrees 43' E) in southeastern Turkey is one of the increasing number of early village sites which, since World War II, have been excavated archeologically in greater southwestern Asia. The evidence recovered in the autumn 1972 campaign of the Joint Istanbul-Chicago Prehistoric Project is briefly described, with particular attention to Cayönü's architectural remains, which are most remarkable, considering the site's date of about 7000 B.C.