Indicators of connective tissue biopolymers in healthy pregnant women

Objective. To detect the features of connective tissue metabolism in healthy women during pregnancy. 

Materials and methods. The study of the connective tissue components was conducted at the terms of 15–16 weeks, 20–24 weeks as well as before the labor. Under observation there were 52 pregnant women (main group), who underwent the study of the connective tissue components in dynamics of pregnancy and 39 patients (comparison group) – the study of the connective tissue biopolymers before pregnancy.  The main protein of connective tissue – collagen was studied by a quantitative determination of amino acids of the free- and peptide-bound hydroxyproline. Metabolism of glycoproteins was investigated according to the concentrations of free oligo-bound and protein-bound sialic acids, oligo-bound and protein-bound fucose, fucosidose and hyaluronidase activity. Seromucoid, hexasamine and glycosaminoglycan content was analyzed.

Results. There was established a statistically significant increase in the blood serum free and piptide-bound hydroxyproline content, the absence of changes in the blood serum glycoprotein concentration, the growth of glycosaminoglycan concentrations and fucosidase concentrations beginning from the week 20 of pregnancy, the elevation of protein-bound sialic acid concentration from the weeks 20–24 of pregnancy, free and oligo-bound sialic acids – from the week 37 in the blood serum.

Conclusions. The study results indicate that among healthy women, disorganization and structural changes in the connective tissue during pregnancy are based on the changes in the anabolic and catabolic processes conditioned by improvement of the humoral control of metabolism.