Dopamine in the Pathophysiology of Preeclampsia and Gestational Hypertension: Monoamine Oxidase (MAO) and Catechol-O-methyl Transferase (COMT) as Possible Mechanisms

Table 2

A comprehensive list of studies in this review examining the role of catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) in the pathophysiology of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

Author	Country	Design	Cohort size	Main findings
[32]	United States	Cohort	270 normal women; 284 women with hypertension	COMT activity is low in patients with hypertension.
[86]	United States	Review	Preeclamptic women	Deficiency in catechol-O-methyl transferase and 2-methoxyoestradiol is associated with preeclampsia.
[87]	Australia	Cohort	14 healthy term pregnant women; 8 preterm normotensive pregnancy; 22 severe preeclamptic women	Severe preeclampsia may not be associated with a decrease in placental COMT expression.
[18]	China	Cohort	15 normal pregnant women; 15 term pregnant patients with preeclampsia	COMT may play a role in the pathogenesis of term preeclampsia.
[90]	Spain	Cohort	Pregnant Sprague–Dawley rats	COMT is associated with reduced NO bioavailability which results to endothelial dysfunction in GH.