Research of Sildenafil Citrate - Essay Example

Therefore, sildenafil dilates chorionic plate artery rings in pregnant women. Previous studies by doctors also show that phosphodiesterase-type five inhibitor is present in the fetoplacental circulation of a human being (Khan et al. 2004, 319). In addition, the study shows that sildenafil acts as a vasodilator to enhance this circulation. The vasodilatory sensitivity of sildenafil is also increased through cGMP pathways. This indicates that sildenafil citrate is essential in treating pulmonary hypertension in pregnant women.

Pulmonary hypertension is a common disease in pregnant women who do not receive essential maternal care. The condition typically causes poor pregnancy and fetal outcomes. In addition, cases of miscarriages arising from the disease have also been reported. Therefore, using sildenafil citrate reduces the chances of miscarriages or stillbirths. Studies showed that mice injected with sildenafil had reduced chances of premature labour (Wareing et al., 2005, 2554). In addition, the mice offspring were also found to be healthy due to adequate blood circulation.

Still, sildenafil citrate used in mice also reduced intra-uterine pressures during premature labour. This is because the drug increases myometrium relaxation in rodents and humans. The product also improves the functioning of the endothelium of myometrium vessels in pregnant women. Sildenafil used in mice also showed that the pregnant outcome of mice injected with the product was healthy; thus, the offspring had a higher weight than that of mice not injected with the drug.

The fundamental cause was that sildenafil increases uterine circulation through vasodilatation of small myometrial arteries. Therefore, sildenafil can be used to reduce cases of fetal growth retardation in pregnant women. Although it is not clear that sildenafil is transferred to the fetus through the placenta, its chemical characteristics confirm that the probability of its transfer to the fetus is very high (Wareing et al., 2005, 2550). Sildenafil citrate has also been proven to increase birth weight and enhance vasodilatation in Fetal Growth Restriction (FGR) pregnancies.

Different authors report that sildenafil positively affects uteroplacental perfusion in FGR pregnancies. Women having FGR pregnancies showed significant improvements in their umbilical arteries when treated with sildenafil. This is because the drug increased fetoplacental Doppler flow. This is indeed a great help since patients with a poor velocimetric profile are the ones that exhibit cases of low birth weight (Attina? et al., 2010, 13). Therefore, when the fetoplacental perfusion velocimetry of patients with FGR pregnancies is increased, the birth weight might be improved (Khan et al.

, 2004, 316). A lack of necessary nutrients usually causes restriction of growth in the fetus, and thus, fetal development can be increased by increasing the availability of these nutrients during pregnancy. On the other hand, the availability of nutrients can be increased by increasing the adequacy of substrates that increase fetal metabolism and oxygen availability. This way, there will be an adequate flow of blood in the uteroplacental vascular function (Attina? et al., 2010, 25). Since Sildenafil is a vasodilator, it is also responsible for increasing the blood flow in the small myometrium arteries via vasodilatation. Therefore, internal uterine growth retardation will also be treated with sildenafil citrate.

Past research by different scientists shows that, indeed, sildenafil increases the health and outcome of pregnancy since it treats hypertension in pregnant women. Hypertension can be fatal to a pregnant woman since it causes significant complications between the mother and the baby (Wirostko, 2012, 23). Different authors have also opined that sildenafil has no adverse effects when used by pregnant women since it increases the breakdown of GMP, thus forming pathways that help treat pulmonary hypertension in pregnancy (Jerzak et al., 2008, 1849).