Results
The 26 pregnant women were divided into three groups: singleton
pregnancies (n=9), DC twin pregnancies (n=9) and MC twin pregnancies
(n=8). The groups of pregnant women were compared regarding maternal
age, body mass index and gestational age at childbirth. There were no
significant differences among these features for the three groups. The
demographic and laboratory test results of the pregnant women are
presented in Table 1. Serum albumin concentration was significantly
higher in MC twin pregnancies compared to singleton and DC twin
pregnancies. On the other hand, the plasmatic urea concentration was
significantly lower in MC twin pregnancies.
The median curves of plasma BET concentration versus time for the three
groups were determined during the 24h after a single intramuscular dose
of 12mg of BET sodium phosphate and BET acetate (Figure 1). Table 2
lists the pharmacokinetic parameters, demonstrating differences among
the groups of pregnant women. The AUC0-∞ and CL/F were
significantly lower and higher, respectively, in DC twin pregnancies
compared to singleton and MC twin pregnancies. On the other hand, Cmax,
Tmax and Vd/F were not significatively different among the groups. Vd/F
(p=0.02; r=0.4530) was correlated to body mass index, but not to any
other demographic or biochemical data (Figure 2).
Figure 3 shows preliminary data on the BET placental transfer, expressed
by the umbilical cord to maternal vein concentration ratio and
intervillous space to maternal vein concentration ratio.