Thromb Haemost 2004; 92(06): 1320-1326
DOI: 10.1160/TH03-11-0683
Blood Coagulation, Fibrinolysis and Cellular Haemostasis
Schattauer GmbH

von Willebrand factor-cleaving protease (ADAMTS13) activity in normal non-pregnant women, pregnant and post-delivery women

Analía Sánchez-Luceros
2   Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones, Ciencia y Técnica (CONICET), Argentina
,
Cristina E. Farías
2   Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones, Ciencia y Técnica (CONICET), Argentina
,
María M. Amaral
1   Departamento de Hemostasia y Trombosis, Instituto de Investigaciones Hematológicas, Academia Nacional de Medicina, Buenos Aires, Argentina
,
Ana C. Kempfer
2   Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones, Ciencia y Técnica (CONICET), Argentina
,
Roberto Votta
3   Departamento de Obstetricia, Hospital General de Agudos “Cosme Argerich”, Buenos Aires, Argentina
,
Carlos Marchese
3   Departamento de Obstetricia, Hospital General de Agudos “Cosme Argerich”, Buenos Aires, Argentina
,
María J. Salviú
1   Departamento de Hemostasia y Trombosis, Instituto de Investigaciones Hematológicas, Academia Nacional de Medicina, Buenos Aires, Argentina
,
Adriana I. Woods
2   Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones, Ciencia y Técnica (CONICET), Argentina
,
Susana S. Meschengieser
1   Departamento de Hemostasia y Trombosis, Instituto de Investigaciones Hematológicas, Academia Nacional de Medicina, Buenos Aires, Argentina
,
María A. Lazzari
1   Departamento de Hemostasia y Trombosis, Instituto de Investigaciones Hematológicas, Academia Nacional de Medicina, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2   Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones, Ciencia y Técnica (CONICET), Argentina
› Institutsangaben

Financial support: This study was supported by a research grant from Fundación René Barón, Secretaría de Ciencia y Técnica (SECYT) and Ministerio de Salud, Argentina
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Publikationsverlauf

Received 10. November 2003

Accepted after resubmission 03. September 2004

Publikationsdatum:
02. Dezember 2017 (online)

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Summary

ADAMTS13 dysfunction has been involved in the pathogenesis of Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura. This disorder occurs more frequently in women and, in 13% of them, is associated with pregnancy. However, there is little information on the protease behaviour in normal pregnancy. We studied von Willebrand factor and ADAMTS13 activity changes in normal non-pregnant, pregnant and post-delivery women. Fifty-five non-pregnant women, normal blood bank donors, who were not taking contraceptive pills were included as controls. A prospective cross-sectional study of 270 normal pregnant and post-delivery women was carried out. ADAMTS13 activity decreased progressively as from the period of 12–16 weeks up to the end of early puerperium (mean 52%, range 22–89, p < 0.0001), to increase slightly thereafter. Nulliparous presented mildly lower levels of ADAMTS13 activity than parous women (65% vs. 83%, p=0.0003), and primigravidae than multigravidae between 6–11 weeks up to 17–23 weeks of pregnancy (69% vs. 80%, p=0.005). Although in all women the protease levels were the same by blood groups, the O blood group non-pregnant women showed a higher mean of ADAMTS13 activity than those non-O (78% vs. 69%, p= 0.064). Our results suggest that the changing levels of protease activity during pregnancy and puerperium, induced by unidentified mechanisms, could render the peripartum time more vulnerable to developed thrombotic microangiopathies.