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Abstract
Objective: Erythrocyte sodium-lithium countertransport (SLC) is elevated in patients with essential hypertension, those with a family history of hypertension, and in normotensive first-degree relatives of hypertensives. Studies on pregnant women have failed to show any difference between normotensive subjects and those with established pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH). We therefore studied erythrocyte SLC in second and third trimester primigravid women before the onset of clinical signs of PIH to evaluate the predictive value of this test.
Method: All the subjects were Chinese primigravid women. Subjects were excluded if they had a family history of hypertension or if there was any hypertensive disease. Erythrocyte SLC was determined from the difference in efflux of lithium from lithium-loaded cells into sodium-containing and sodium-free media.
Results: There were no significant differences in the SLC values between subjects who subsequently developed PIH and those who remained normotensive. In both groups of subjects, erythrocyte SLC rose with increasing gestational age.
Conclusion: We conclude that erythrocyte SLC has no predictive value for PIH.