Yafteh

Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy causing a high rate of both maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Recent reports suggest that free radical-induced endothelial cell injury might be an etiologic factor in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of antioxidants such as E and C vitamins on the prevention of preeclampsia. Materials and Methods: This clinical- trial study was conducted in the year 2009 in the clinical centers of Lorestan university of medical sciences. 160 nulliparous women with the age range of 18 to 35 without any risk factors for preeclampsia were divided into two groups. The first group received oral vitamin E 400 IU/day, and vitamin C 1000 mg/day with iron tablets during the 20th to 24th weeks of pregnancy while the control group received only iron tablets. Finally, the data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and frequency distribution tables. Results: Incidence of preeclampsia in the control group was 17.5% and in the case group it was 5% that was statistically significant. The means of systolic pressure before and after intervention in the control group were 99.43 7.8, and 12.44 19.1 while in the case group they were 99.3 8.3 and 106.12 13.25. Diastolic pressure means before and after intervention in the control group were 62.7 13.6 and 62.7 4.7. Conclusion: As the results showed, use of antioxidants can clearly reduce the risk of preeclampsia, and can reduce the mean systolic and diastolic pressure.