Symptoms of the disease, formerly known as pregnancy poisoning, affect as much as 5-10 percent. pregnant women. They usually appear after the 20th week of pregnancy. These include high blood pressure that has not occurred before, usually accompanied by the so-called proteinuria. There may be an increase in creatinine levels, liver tests, a decrease in the number of platelets, or edema.
Although the first descriptions of preeclampsia come from ancient times, the reason for the occurrence of this disease and the effective method of its treatment are still unknown. When it is not possible to permanently stabilize the pressure in the future mother in order to save the life of the woman and her baby, doctors decide to terminate the pregnancy early by caesarean section. Although this procedure is necessary, it is not always possible to save the mother or her child.
For this reason, a thorough understanding of the pathomechanism of pre-clamps is very important from the point of view of designing innovative drugs that would prevent pre-clamps or would be effective in combating its symptoms, allowing termination of pregnancy.
Since pre-declamation is believed to be the result of abnormal implantation and formation of the placenta, scientists' attention is focused on understanding the mechanisms (signalling pathways) that take place in placental cells during disease.
As part of the project financed by the National Science Centre, scientists from the Medical University of Lodz conducted a number of experiments on a commercially available cell line, the cells of which are derived from the placenta. The research was aimed at understanding the processes taking place in the placenta under conditions simulating those prevailing in the uterus of a woman during preeclampsia pregnancy. The analysis of the obtained results required a very careful selection of statistical methods that were proposed and carried out by the employees of Lodz University of Technology.
The results of the research allowed to select the mechanism that occurs in the cells of the placenta only during pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia. This signalling pathway appears to be a promising therapeutic target. Further research is needed to determine whether drugs that interact with this signalling pathway can be considered as potential therapeutics for the prevention or treatment of preeclampsia.
The results obtained are described in an article published in the International Journal of Molecular Science. Authors: dr inż. Bartosz Sakowicz from TUL and the Medical University of Lodz: dr hab. n. med. Agata Sakowicz, mgr Michalina Bralewska, mgr Dominika E. Habrowska-Górczyńska, prof. dr hab. n. med. Agnieszka W. Piastowska-Ciesielska and dr hab. n. med. Tadeusz Pietrucha, MUL Prof.