Abstract
BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia (PE) is a hypertensive disorder in pregnancy affecting multiple organ systems. This study hypothesized that oxidative stress and inflammatory responses contribute to the pathogenesis of Preeclampsia, and that selenium and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) could mitigate these effects. METHODS: The study was initiated after approval from the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee. Twenty-four female Wistar rats were divided equally into four groups. Group I served as controls, while Groups II, III, and IV received Nω-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (L-NAME) to induce hypertension from day 10 to 20 of gestation. Additionally, Group III received selenium (240 μg/kg/day) and Group IV received NAC (160 mg/kg). On day 20, Blood Pressure (BP) monitoring and urine protein estimation were carried out to assess hypertension and proteinuria, while blood samples were collected to measure malondialdehyde (MDA) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels, as markers of oxidative stress and inflammation, respectively. Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism 10.2. RESULTS: Selenium improved L-NAME-induced hypertension (Mean BP 107.63±5.22 mmHg vs 140.9±8.38 mmHg in disease control (DC) and proteinuria (65.5±4.09 vs 140.2±11.85 mg/day in DC) and significantly reduced the inflammatory response (IL-6 23.4±1.06 vs 50.63±3.35 pg/mL in DC) but had little effect on oxidative stress (MDA 0.21±0.02 vs 0.24±0.02 nmol/mL in DC). NAC did not lower BP (Mean BP 129.33±7.96 mmHg) but significantly reduced proteinuria (92.7±6.37mg/day), IL-6 levels (18.24±0.42 pg/mL), and oxidative stress (MDA 0.16±0.01 nmol/mL). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that selenium and NAC play distinct protective roles in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia, potentially offering synergistic effects for cardiovascular and kidney health in hypertensive pregnancies.