Mo. Pulkkinen et al., TISSUE PHOSPHOLIPIDS DURING HUMAN-PREGNANCY BY P-31 NMR - MYOMETRIUM,DECIDUA, PLACENTA AND FETAL MEMBRANES, NMR in biomedicine, 9(2), 1996, pp. 53-58
Citations number
29
Categorie Soggetti
Spectroscopy,"Radiology,Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging",Biophysics,"Medical Laboratory Technology
The biophysical environment formed by phospholipids, rather than the a
mount of functional proteins, can be rate limiting for factors control
ling myometrial contractility and pregnancy maintenance, We therefore
studied myometrial, decidual, placental and fetal membrane phospholipi
ds using the P-31 NMR spectrum, This enabled us to identify bulk phosp
holipids over 0.05 mmol/kg, The method was checked for reliability for
the reproductive tissues studied, The chemical shift of phospholipid
standards was slightly different according to whether a single compoun
d or a mixture was analyzed, The bulk phospholipids found were phospha
tidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine, sphingomyelin (SM) and ph
osphatidylinositol. The ratio PC/SM decreased during pregnancy in the
decidua, placenta and fetal membranes, but not in the myometrium. Preg
nancy did not induce significant changes in the total myometrial phosp
holipids. Their composition was stable even during clinical labor, The
fetal tissues, placenta and fetal membranes contained about twice as
much phospholipid as the maternal tissues, myometrium and decidua, The
re was no sign of lysocompounds, cardiolipin or phosphatidic acid, Thi
s supports the view that the extraction and analyzing techniques used
earlier probably created artefacts, The increased fluidity of the myom
etrial and placental phospholipids during pregnancy may depend on fact
ors other than the composition of phospholipids.