Kidney, hormones and pregnancy

Abstract

The kidney plays a leading role in the creation and maintenance of physiological conditions in pregnancy for both mother and fetus. These conditions can be critical for the mother, because they include an increase in circulating blood volume, which can lead to a rise in blood pressure (hyperdynamic circulation type) that represents a danger for the fetus. Maintaining normal blood pressure in the hyperdynamic circulation type also largely driven by the kidney. The leading role in the changes in hormonal levels during pregnancy belongs to the pituitary gland. It regulates the adrenal glands, increasing the production of adrenotropic hormone, glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids. The pituitary gland is involved in regulation of the immune system of the mother, which is critical in implantation of fertilized cells in the myometrium. The relationship of systemic and placental angiotensin II is discussed. An important role of progesterone (pregnancy hormone) under both normal and pathological pregnancy is described. It is the depletion of the adaptive functions of the kidney that is the reason for the switch stage 1 pre-eclampsia in second with renal symptoms (proteinuria, edema, and hypertension). Prevention and treatment of pre-eclampsia should be included in the maintenance and restoration of hyperdynamic circulation type. In modern literature the role of cardiotonic steroids in the mechanism of occurrence of preeclampsia is widely discussed. Available experimental and clinical data suggest that using antibodies to cardiotonic steroids is very promising for the treatment of preeclampsia.