Abstract:

Objective: Preeclampsia (PE) is a disease that characterized by hypertension and proteinuria during pregnancy. Epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) are arachidonic acid metabolites which have vasodilatator, anti-inflammatory and profibrinolytic effects. Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH; EC 3.3.3.2) catalyses the degradation of EETs to their inactive diols (DHETs). Low circulating levels of EETs may be related to high blood pressure in preeclampsia. The aim of this study is to determine the level of 11,12-DHETs, a representative metabolite of sEH-mediated metabolism of EET, in preeclamptic patients. Method: 11,12-DHET levels were measured by ELISA in plasma samples of 75 PE patients and 75 normotensive pregnant women as controls. Results: It was found that lasma 11,12-DHET levels of PE patients was significantly increased compared to the control group (p <0.05). Conclusions: These results and our previous findings suggest that high sEH activities in PE patients may cause to produce more 11,12-DHETs in PE. sEH enzyme with high catalytic activity may play a role in the pathogenesis of PE by contributing to the reduction of vasodilatator, anti-hypertensive and anti-inflammatory effects of EETs by rapid degradation of these molecules.  

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