Relationships Between Reproductive Hormones And Maternal Pregnancy Physiology In Women Conceiving With Or Without In Vitro Fertilization

We evaluated maternal pregnancy adaptations and their relationships with circulating hormones in women who conceived with or without in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Pregnancies were grouped by corpus luteal (CL) number: 1- CL with physiological plasma relaxin concentration (PRLN; spontaneous pregnancies); 0-CL without circulating RLN (programmed cycles); >1-CL with elevated PRLN (ovarian stimulation). Major findings: declines in plasma osmolality (Posm) and sodium concentration (PNa+) were comparable in the 1- and 0-CL cohorts, correlated with plasma estradiol and progesterone concentrations, but not PRLN; gestational declines in plasma uric acid concentration (PUA) were attenuated after IVF especially programmed cycles, partly due to subdued increases of renal UA clearance; PRLN and cardiac output (CO) were inversely correlated when plasma estradiol concentration was below ~2.5ng/ml, but positively correlated above ~2.5ng/ml. Unexpectedly, PRLN and plasma sFLT1 (PsFLT1) were directly correlated. Though PsFLT1 and CO were not significantly associated, CO was positively correlated with plasma PLGF concentration after the first trimester, particularly in women who conceived with 0-CL. Major conclusions: (1) circulating RLN was unnecessary for gestational falls in Posm and PNa+; (2) PRLN and CO were inversely correlated during early gestation suggesting PRLN in the lower range may have contributed to systemic vasodilation, while at higher PRLN, relaxin influence became self-limiting; (3) evidence for cooperativity between RLN and estradiol on gestational changes in CO was observed; (4) after the first trimester in women who conceived without a CL, plasma PLGF concentration was associated with recovery of CO, which was impaired during the first trimester in this cohort.