Evaluation of The Process of Apoptosis Through the Estimation of Fas and Fas Ligand Levels in Some Iraqi Hypertensive Pregnant Women

Abstract

Hypertension is the most common medical problem encountered during pregnancy. Certain pregnant women with high blood pressure have been reported to exhibit immunological abnormalities such as elevated level of soluble Fas and Fas ligand, therefore the aim of this study was to estimate the role of Fas and Fas L (apoptosis ) in some Iraqi hypertensive pregnant women. A totality of 70 pregnant women consist of 36 hypertensive pregnant women their age range between 19-39 year and 34 normotensive pregnant women with age range of 20-38 year they served as control group. All pregnant women included in this study were attending the outpatient clinic in the Al-ulwea Hospital for delivery . The results of this study clarified that a level of Fas and Fas ligand were significantly elevated (p<0.001) in hypertensive pregnant women as compared to normotensive group. Beside, the results revealed that the mean of age was 27.89 ± 6.43 year among patients group whereas 29.09 ± 5.72 year among second group with no significant difference observed between them . Furthermore, hypertensive pregnant women group also showed a significant increment (p<0.001) in systolic and diastolic blood pressure in comparison to normotensive group. Additionally, the level of Fas and Fas ligand increased significantly during first and second trimester in gestational hypertensive women as compared to control group. Finally our findings prove the influence of apoptotic factors (Fas and FasL ) on hypertension in pregnancy. Key words: apoptosis , Fas , Fas ligand , hypertension