New molecular biomarkers of preeclampsia have been identified allowing the potential development of an early diagnostic blood test, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal Scientific Reports.
Preeclampsia is most often manifested by a sudden rise in blood pressure. blood pressure and protein in the urine. It can start after the 20th week of pregnancy and often causes premature birth. It promotes seizures (eclampsia), kidney or liver failure, heart and lung complications and other complications in the mother. It affects 5% of pregnancies in France.
“Up to eight% of pregnant women can get preeclampsia in their second or third trimester,” says Dr. Shomron. “It is a serious illness that endangers the health, sometimes even the life, of the mother and the fetus, but we do not know what is the cause, but if it is caught in time, there is a simple remedy and proven: aspirin administered from the 16th week until the end of pregnancy. “
So far, doctors have assessed a woman’s risk for preeclampsia by referring to her previous pregnancies, blood pressure levels and other general symptoms.
New biomarkers for preeclampsia
For six years, researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel examined blood samples from thousands of pregnant women in the first trimester. The team then reduced its concentration to 75 specific blood samples: 35 taken from women who contracted pre-eclampsia and 40 from women who completed their pregnancy in full health.
The researchers extracted the RNA molecules (fragments of molecular information found in human cells) from the plasma of the samples and sequenced them. Scientists have discovered the new biomarkers.
“We identified 25 small RNA molecules differentially expressed between pre-eclampsia and control groups, and then we developed a model for classifying pre-eclampsia samples from these RNA molecules,” explains Liron Yoffe. “These results indicate the predictive value of circulating small RNA molecules during the first trimester and lay the groundwork for a new, non-invasive early diagnostic tool for preeclampsia, which could reduce the risk to life for both mother and child. fetus”.
“This new research follows a global trend, which seeks to establish pregnancy tests in the first trimester, as opposed to today, when most tests are done in the third trimester.”
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