Effects of 3,4-dihydroxyacetophenone on the biosynthesis of TXA2 and PGI2 in human placental villus and umbilical artery segments in vitro.

In this paper, the effects of 3,4-dihydroxyacetophenone, DHAP (Qingxintong), an active constituent of traditional Chinese medicine, on the biosynthesis of TXA2 and PGI2 in human placental villi and umbilical artery segments of normal term pregnancy in vitro were studied by a perifusion technique. The collected fractions were assayed by radioimmunoassay for TXB2 and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha. The results showed that DHAP inhibited TXA2 and PGI2 production by umbilical artery segments in a dose dependent fashion and in both tissues TXA2 was more sensitive to inhibition than was 6-keto-PGF1 alpha. According to these data it is suggested that DHAP might be useful in treatment of pathologic pregnancies with chronic defective utero-placental circulation such as PIH and IUGR to improve this circulation.