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A New Test to Help Predict Pre-eclampsia During Pregnancy

A test carried out during pregnancy could predict which women will develop a potentially fatal condition called pre-eclampsia, scientists say.

Presenting their study to the American Society of Nephrology, researchers said the test detected specific kidney cells in patients’ urine.

Out of 15 women who developed pre-eclampsia, all tested positive for the cells.

Experts say a simple, predictive test during pregnancy would be valuable.

Warning sign

Pre-eclampsia is a disorder which appears in the late stages of pregnancy and is characterised by high blood pressure and excess protein in the urine.

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic, who presented their work to the annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology, tested 300 women

Dr Vesna Garovic assessed a test which detects the shedding of kidney cells called podocytes in the urine. The team had previously found podocytes present in patients with pre-eclampsia when they gave birth.

In this study, all the women who went on to develop pre-eclampsia had podocytes in their urine, while none of the 15 who went on to develop high blood pressure or the 44 healthy pregnant women did.

Although carried out on small numbers of women, the researchers say the test is highly accurate for predicting pre-eclampsia and could alert doctors early to the problem.

Ann Marie Barnard, chief executive of Action on Pre-Eclampsia, said an accurate test would help many women.

“A large number of the 1,500 women who call our helpline each year are terrified of becoming pregnant again because they have suffered pre-eclampsia, often with tragic results. Many do decide to go ahead with a new pregnancy anyway.

“Any test which can predict whether they are going to get it again has to be welcomed – while it cannot stop the disease occurring, it would enable services to be more closely focused on them and more alert to signs of the disease developing.”

And Andrew Shennan, professor of obstetrics at St Thomas Hospital in London, said: “Being able to use a simple accurate test in pregnancy, such as from a urine sample, would be valuable in identifying those women to watch closely.

“Current tests are not reliable enough, and further work is needed to confirm these promising findings in larger groups.”

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In Africa, 10% of Pregnancies Experience Pre-eclampsia, But New Findings Bring Hope

In African, pre-eclampsia occurs in 10% of pregnancies

Scientists say they have identified genetic errors that appear to increase a pregnant woman’s chance of getting the condition called pre-eclampsia.

Pre-eclampsia is an abnormal state of pregnancy characterized by hypertension, fluid retention and albuminuria. If not detected and managed early it can be potentially life-threatening.

Approximately four in every 100 women develops this problem of high blood pressure and leaky kidneys during pregnancy. Black women are more likely to get high blood pressure and preeclampsia than white women. In African, pre-eclampsia occurs in 10% of pregnancies, which is significantly higher than the global average of approximately 4%.

Now researchers have found a faulty DNA which may be blamed in some cases. The report is presented in the journal PLoS Medicine. It is a discovery that could lead the way to identify and treat women at risk before it becomes life-threatening.

The US researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis analyzed DNA from over 300 pregnant women.

Sixty of these were healthy women but were hospitalized because they developed severe pre-eclampsia. The remaining 240 were women were under surveillance for other health complications. Forty of these also went on to develop pre-eclampsia.

Researchers analyzed the DNA from the subjects and found that some genetic errors were shared by five of the 60 healthy women and seven of the 40 “higher-risk pregnancy” women who developed pre-eclampsia.

The faulty DNA were located on genes that play a role in regulating immune response, confirming the suspicion that scientists had that pre-eclampsia could be provoked by hitches in the immune response. Generally, women with autoimmune diseases such as lupus have an increased risk of pre-eclampsia

The researchers plan to study more pregnant women and other genes to further their understanding.

Currently, the best way to stop the progress of pre-eclampsia is to deliver the baby. This contributes to the statistics of pre-mature babies who are at increased risks of several complications.

Further studies into these faulty genes may help to establish a protocol to identify women at increased risk of pre-eclampsia and put them on increased surveillance as early as possible in their pregnancy.

In communities where access to medical services is limited or unaffordable such as common in most African countries, these findings reveal promising potential for women in their pregnancies.

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