VASOACTIVITY GENERATED FROM PLATELETS BY IMMUNE COMPLEXES IN PRE‐ECLAMPSIA

Abstract

1. Circulating immune complexes in excess of the equivalent of 20 m̈g/ml heat‐aggregated IgG were found in fourteen out of twenty patients diagnosed as having preeclampsia. 2. Only six of the nineteen controls tested had similar levels of immune complexes. Recent studies have established that concentrations of heat aggregated IgG in excess of 20 m̈g/ml activate human platelets to release sufficient concentrations of vasoactive agents to constrict a human blood vessel in vitro. 3. It is therefore suggested that in vivo platelet activation by circulating immune complexes may release sufficient concentrations of vasoactive agents to contribute to the hypertension in pre‐eclampsia. Copyright © 1..