Scientists find cause of pre-eclampsia

[Elmore Furth]

Pre-eclampsia, a condition associated dangerously high blood pressure in women, is potentially life threatening in pregnant women. It occurs in 2-7% of all pregnancies and can kill both babies and mothers.

A team led by Aiwu Zhou at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research used intense x-ray beams at the Diamond Light Source facility in Oxfordshire to study the structure of angiotensinogen, a protein linked to high blood pressure.

Scientists knew the protein triggered the release of hormones called angiotensins that cause blood vessels to constrict, but how this happened was not clear. When veins and arteries constrict, blood pressure rises in the same way that squeezing a garden hose increases the pressure of water running through it.

Zhou's team found that angiotensinogen changes shape when it is oxidised by reactive molecules in the blood. The oxidised protein bends in such a way that a common enzyme can cut it in two, releasing angiotensin. The study appears in the journal, Nature. In a follow up experiment, the researchers analysed blood samples taken from volunteers. They showed that in healthy people, a steady 60% of angiotensinogen was oxidised, but in women with pre-eclampsia the level was much higher. "When we looked at the blood samples, we were immediately able to identify eight of 12 women with pre-eclampsia," said Robin Carrell, a co-author of the study.

Professor Carrell said changes in the placenta during pregnancy alter how much oxygen the growing baby receives, but this can trigger the release of free radicals that oxidise angiotensinogen and cause blood pressure to rise.

Scientists find cause of pre-eclampsia

[HuckleB]

1. Good preliminary study.

I hope this gets somewhere!

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Seems to go hand in hand with other research such as:

http://journals.lww.com/epidem/Abstract/2009/09000/Vitamin_D_Supplementation_and_Reduced_Risk_of.18.aspx

Epidemiology:
September 2009 - Volume 20 - Issue 5 - pp 720-726
doi: 10.1097/EDE.0b013e3181a70f08
Pregnancy: Original Article
Vitamin D Supplementation and Reduced Risk of Preeclampsia in Nulliparous Wome


Background: A recent study showed that nulliparous women who develop preeclampsia had low concentrations of vitamin D in serum sampled in midpregnancy. The aim of the present study was to estimate the association between intake of vitamin D during pregnancy and the risk of preeclampsia in 23,423 nulliparous pregnant women taking part in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.

Methods: Participating women answered questionnaires at gestational week 15 (general health questionnaire), at week 22 (food frequency questionnaire), and at week 30 (general health questionnaire). Pregnancy outcomes were obtained from the Medical Birth Registry. Nutrient intake was calculated from foods and dietary supplements. We estimated relative risks as odds ratios, and controlled for confounding with multiple logistic regression.

Results: The odds ratio of preeclampsia for women with a total vitamin D intake of 15-20 μg/d compared with less than 5 μg/d was 0.76 (95% confidence interval = 0.60-0.95). Considering only the intake of vitamin D from supplements, we found a 27% reduction in risk of preeclampsia (OR = 0.73 <0.58-0.92>) for women taking 10-15 μg/d as compared with no supplements. No association was found between intake of vitamin D from the diet alone and the occurrence of preeclampsia.

Conclusions: These findings are consistent with other reports of a protective effect of vitamin D on preeclampsia development. However, because vitamin D intake is highly correlated with the intake of long chain n-3 fatty acids in the Norwegian diet, further research is needed to disentangle the separate effects of these nutrients.

[aquart]

3. My sister lived six hours because of this.

And they were kind of surprised my mother survived.

And two years ago some friends lost a three-week old preemie we thought might make it because her mother had this.

[HuckleB]

4. Kick.