Effect of Antihypertensive Drugs on Placental Villi of Preeclamptic Patients: A Histopathological Study

 The placenta has been described as the most accurate record of the infant’s prenatal experience. The present study was a quantitative study and it was carried out to see the effect of pre-eclampsia on histopathology of placenta and the comparative changes in placenta of preeclamptic patients taking antihypertensives.

A total of 60 patients were selected from the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College & Hospital, AMU, Aligarh, UP, India and were grouped into control, untreated, and treated groups. Placenta of each group was fixed in 10% formalin solution and processed for section cutting. 5-micron thick sections were prepared and stained with Hematoxylin-eosin and Wiegerts & Van gieson stain and observed under the light of the microscope. A total of 200villi/hpf was counted and percentages for each parameter were expressed.

It has been shown that there was a significant reduction (<0.05) in the percentage of placental villi showing syncytial knot, cytotrophoblast proliferation, Basement membrane thickening, fibrinoid necrosis, and stromal fibrosis.

It has been concluded that antihypertensive drugs were not only effective in controlling the symptoms of pre-eclampsia but also effective in minimizing the placental histopathology and helpful in continuation of pregnancy under low utero-placental flow without completely normalizing the placental changes.