| Maternal Vasodilation in Pregnancy: The Emerging Role of Relaxin. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 21613576 Owner: NLM Status: Publisher |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Pregnancy is a unique physiological condition of profound maternal renal and systemic vasodilation. Our goal has been to unveil the reproductive hormones mediating this remarkable vasodilatory state, and the underlying molecular mechanisms. In addition to advancing our knowledge of pregnancy physiology, reaching this goal may translate into therapeutics for pregnancy pathologies such as preeclampsia and for diseases associated with vasoconstriction and arterial stiffness in non-pregnant women and men. An emerging player is the 6 kDa corpus luteal hormone relaxin, which circulates during pregnancy. Relaxin administration to non-pregnant rats and humans induces systemic and renal vasodilation, thus mimicking the pregnant condition. Immunoneutralization or elimination of the source of circulating relaxin prevents renal and systemic vasodilation in midterm pregnant rats. Infertile women who become pregnant by donor eggs - IVF - embryo transfer lack a corpus luteum and circulating relaxin, and they show a subdued gestational increase in glomerular filtration rate. These data implicate relaxin as one of the vasodilatory reproductive hormones of pregnancy. There are different molecular mechanisms underlying the so-called rapid and sustained vasodilatory mechanisms of relaxin. The former is mediated by Gα(i/o) protein coupling to phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/Akt (protein kinase B)-dependent phosphorylation and activation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase, and the latter by vascular endothelial and placental growth factors, and increases in arterial gelatinase(s) activity. The gelatinases, in turn, hydrolyze big endothelin (ET) at a gly-leu bond to form ET(1)-32, which activates the endothelial ET(B)/nitric oxide vasodilatory pathway. |
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Authors:
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Kirk P Conrad |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: JOURNAL ARTICLE Date: 2011-5-25 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology Volume: - ISSN: 1522-1490 ISO Abbreviation: - Publication Date: 2011 May |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2011-5-26 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 100901230 Medline TA: Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol Country: - |
Other Details:
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Languages: ENG Pagination: - Citation Subset: - |
Affiliation:
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1University of Florida College of Medicine. |
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