Pre-eclampsia breakthrough may benefit affected pregnancies
Professor Lowry and his team from the University of Reading have made a breakthrough in the understanding of pre-eclampsia, which is a major and potentially fatal cause of fetal and maternal illness. It affects one in ten pregnancies world-wide. Currently the only treatment is to deliver the baby prematurely by caesarean section, which means that the baby often requires further intensive care. The team has discovered that a small protein called neurokinin B (NKB), which is secreted by the placenta, is raised significantly in mothers when pre-eclampsia develops. NKB can be detected as early as week 9 of pregnancy making it a potentially useful pre-eclampsia screening tool. Clinical studies are now being initiated to test whether a drug called neurokinin receptor antagonist, which is already available, could block the action of NKB and thereby alleviate this dangerous condition.
Nature 2000; 405: 797-800