THE CORRELATION BETWEEN CHANGING ESTROGEN AND PROGESTERONE LEVELS AND BLOOD GLUTAMATE LEVELS DURING NORMAL PREGNANCY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31379/2411.2616.14.2.2Keywords:
estrogen; progesterone; blood glutamate; pregnancy; neuroprotection.Abstract
Our investigation aimed to examine the impact of changing estrogen and progesterone levels during normal pregnancy on blood glutamate levels. We recruited 116 pregnant women and partitioned them into three groups based on their gestational ages: group 1 – first-trimester pregnancy, group 2 – secondtrimester pregnancy, and group 3 – third-trimester pregnancy. We drew single samples of venous blood from the participating women and analyzed for differing levels of estrogen, progesterone, glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (GPT), glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), and glutamate. Results showed that the second (p<0.001) and third trimesters (p<0.001) had significantly lower blood glutamate levels. Analyses also revealed the existence of an inverse correlation between blood glutamate levels and estrogen and progesterone levels in the entirety of the pregnancies (p<0.001). On the other hand, GOT and GPT levels were unchanged during pregnancy periods, although a slight reduction in GPT was observed during the third trimester. Inverse correlations were also obtained between increased estrogen and progesterone levels during the advanced stages of the pregnancies and blood glutamate levels of the women. Further rises in estrogen and progesterone levels barely impacted blood glutamate levels once the blood glutamate reducing effect reached the maximal point. Findings from this study show that changing estrogen and progesterone levels have an impact on blood glutamate levels, a mechanism that is most probably not facilitated by a GOT/GPT conversion mechanism.
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