Abnormal levels of antioxidant defenses in a large sample of patients with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy

Increased levels of oxidative stress have been demonstrated in Preeclampsia in previous studies, but this finding has not been established in other hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP). We measured different markers of lipid peroxidation and antioxidant defenses by spectrophotometry or enzymoimmunoanalysis in 339 pregnant women: 85 with gestational hypertension (GH), 88 chronic hypertension (CH), 104 Preeclampsia and 62 healthy pregnant control women (PCW). Lower activity of superoxide dismutase and higher levels of catalase were found in GH, CH and preeclampsia compared with PCW (964.4±116.5, 970.0±120.4, 971.2±137.5 and 1063.4±133.7 U g(-1) Hb, P