Hope for a much-needed treatment for the common pregnancy complication pre-eclampsia has been raised by a successful test of an mRNA therapy in mice
By Michael Le Page
11 December 2024
High blood pressure is a common symptom of pre-eclampsia
Nataliya Piatrovich/Alamy
Delivering babies early, when possible, is currently the only way to deal with the common pregnancy complication pre-eclampsia. But the condition has now been successfully treated in mice by delivering mRNA molecules to the placenta to boost the growth of new blood vessels.
The next step is to test this mRNA therapy in larger animals, such as guinea pigs and non-human primates, says Kelsey Swingle at the University of Pennsylvania. “That’s something we’ve talked about starting in the really near term.”
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If the therapy proves effective in larger animals, the team envisages it being tested first in people who develop pre-eclampsia early in pregnancy.
“If you get pre-eclampsia in month eight or nine of pregnancy, you’ll induce early, but it’s not an option if you have severe pre-eclampsia in your fourth or fifth month of pregnancy. Very likely you’re going to lose the baby,” says team member Michael Mitchell, also at the University of Pennsylvania. “So that’s where the treatment can [address] an immediate need.”
It could also potentially be used later in pregnancy to avoid the need to induce birth early, which can affect the health of infants.