The impact of environmental pollution at the place of residence of pregnant women and of their smoking habits on the cellular energy metabolism of placental tissue was investigated. Samples of full-term placentas were randomly collected from two environmentally different regions of Slovakia (Bratislava, Stará Ľubovňa) and the activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was measured. Our results showed enhanced LDH activity in the placenta that was dependent on both the type of environmental pollutants at the place of residence and the smoking habits during pregnancy. The enhanced LDH activity may reflect hypoxic conditions due to the accumulation of heavy metals and toxic compounds of tobacco smoke in the placental tissue. A high content of heavy metal particles, found in placental samples from Stará Ľubovňa in our previous studies, might contribute to the increased LDH activity in placentas from this region. We hypothesize that fine metal particles deposited in the placental tissue might be phagocytozed by the syncytiotrophoblast, thus contributing to the decreased oxygen level in placental tissue., A. Kaiglová, E. Reichrtová, A. Adamčáková, L. Wsólová., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Microsomes were prepared from placentas of normotensive women and of patients suffering from pregnancy- induced hypertension (PIH). Activity of Na,K-ATPase (estimated as ATP hydrolysis) from the hypertensive tissue was lower than from tissue of normotensive women, even if the number of Na,K-ATPase molecules (monitored by anthroyl ouabain binding) was actually greater in the hypertensive tissue. The affinity of Na,K-ATPase for anthroyl ouabain was about four times higher in plasma membranes of hypertensives, indicating some structural change in the Na,K-ATPase or in its vicinity. Assuming the presence of an endogenous digitalis-like factor, the results suggest a simple way of explaining not only the lower Ma,K-ATPase activity in the placental membranes of hypertensives but also the different extent of enzyme inhibition in different tissues of PIH patients.