Effect of Antihypertensive Drugs on Placental Villi of Preeclamptic Patients: A Histopathological Study

Abstract

Background & Aims: The placenta has been described as the most accurate record of the infant’s prenatal experience. The present study was a quantitative study and it was carried out to see the effect of pre-eclampsia on histopathology of placenta and the comparative changes in placenta of preeclamptic patients taking antihypertensives. Materials & Methods: A total of 60 patients were selected from the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College & Hospital, AMU, Aligarh, UP, India and were grouped into control, untreated, and treated groups. Placenta of each group was fixed in 10% formalin solution and processed for section cutting. 5-micron thick sections were prepared and stained with Hematoxylin-eosin and Wiegerts & Van gieson stain and observed under the light of the microscope. A total of 200villi/hpf was counted and percentages for each parameter were expressed. Result: It has been shown that there was a significant reduction (<0.05) in the percentage of placental villi showing syncytial knot, cytotrophoblast proliferation, Basement membrane thickening, fibrinoid necrosis, and stromal fibrosis. Conclusion: It has been concluded that antihypertensive drugs were not only effective in controlling the symptoms of pre-eclampsia but also effective in minimizing the placental histopathology and helpful in continuation of pregnancy under low utero-placental flow without completely normalizing the placental changes.

Keywords

• pre-eclampsia
• methyldopa
• chorionic villi
• basement membrane