BACKGROUND: Pre-eclampsia remains a major cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality in our environment. Research into methods of prevention of this disorder has been hampered by a poor understanding of the pathological mechanisms leading to pre-eclampsia. Recent studies suggest that oxidative stress (with reduced antioxidant defences) could lead to free radical mediated endothelial dysfunction in preeclampsia. OBJECTIVES: To determine the plasma vitamin C levels in pre-eclamptic and normotensive pregnant patients at LUTH, and to compare the levels of plasma vitamin C in both groups of patients with a view to investigate the association between plasma vitamin C level and pre-eclampsia. METHOD: A comparative study of plasma vitamin C levels in pre-eclamptic and normotensive pregnancies. Informed consent was obtained from 90 women admitted to the labour ward with singleton pregnancies between 28 and 40 weeks, who were divided into two groups: 30 pre-eclamptic patients and 60 normotensive patients (each pre-eclamptic patient was matched for parity with 2 normotensive patients). Venous blood was obtained from all the participants. Plasma vitamin C level was measured using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Data was analyzed using inferential statistical methods.