New Research On Pre-eclampsia In Mice May Have Important Implications For Humans

Yang Xia, M.D., Ph.D., and Rodney E. Kellems, Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; and Susan M. Ramin, M.D., Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, all at the University of Texas-Houston Medical School, and colleagues report today in the journal Nature Medicine that they induced pre-eclampsia in mice by injecting them with certain human autoantibodies that have been found in women with pre-eclampsia. The mice showed multiple features of the disorder, including dangerously high blood pressure, protein in the urine, and placental abnormalities. Then the researchers gave the mice a substance that blocks the action of the autoantibodies; this prevented the development of pre-eclampsia.

The investigators say they demonstrated an important pathway of pre-eclampsia as well as a potential new approach to diagnosis and treatment.

Pre-eclampsia may require pre-term delivery (birth before 37 completed weeks gestation) to prevent severe complications to mother and baby, because delivery is the only cure for the disorder.

Preterm birth is a serious and costly health problem and the leading cause of death in the first month of life. More than a half million babies – one out of every eight – are born too soon each year in the United States. Babies who survive face the risk of serious life-long health problems including learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, blindness, hearing loss, and other chronic conditions including asthma. Even infants born just a few weeks too soon have a greater risk of breathing problems, feeding difficulties, temperature instability (hypothermia), jaundice and delayed brain development.

The March of Dimes also is helping to support a large World Health Organization study to evaluate whether a new screening test is in fact a reliable predictor of the development of pre-eclampsia, as well as the feasibility of doing testing in developing nations where pre-eclampsia causes a significant number of deaths among pregnant women and babies.