These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Cigarette smoking during pregnancy lowers aromatase cytochrome P-450 in the human placenta.
    Author: Kitawaki J, Inoue S, Tamura T, Yamamoto T, Honjo H, Higashiyama T, Osawa Y, Okada H.
    Journal: J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol; 1993 Jun; 45(6):485-91. PubMed ID: 8518204.
    Abstract:
    To clarify whether cigarette smoking during pregnancy causes an organic alteration in placental estrogen producing ability, we determined the catalytic activity of aromatase by the tritiated water assay, and tissue level of aromatase cytochrome P-450 (P-450arom) by the specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, in placental samples from nonsmokers and smokers. As pregnancy progressed, both aromatase activity and P-450arom concentration increased in placentas from nonsmokers and smokers. However, the gradient of the increase was significantly less in heavy smokers (> or = 20 cigarettes a day) than in normal and moderate smokers (< 20 cigarettes a day). At term, the mean aromatase activity and P-450arom concentration in placentas from heavy smokers were significantly lower than in nonsmokers and moderate smokers, while aromatase activity per P-450arom (turnover rate) and the mean placental weight were comparable among the three groups. In contrast, the ratio of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity to aromatase activity was higher in placentas from heavy smokers. Immunohistochemical studies showed that P-450arom was localized in the cytoplasm of syncytiotrophoblasts of chorionic villi in placentas from both nonsmokers and smokers. These results suggest that the induction of placental P-450arom during gestation is suppressed by maternal smoking, resulting in a reduction in estrogen producing ability, while placental xenobiotic P-450 is induced.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]