The body's own immune system may cause pre-eclampsia.
Pre-eclampsia affects one in 20 pregnancies and is a common condition which is potentially dangerous for pregnant women and their babies. Recent research in The US has found that when experiments were conducted on mice, it could be triggered by immune molecules. Potentially this could help lead to new treatments and tests for the condition
It has always been hard to predict which women will be affected by pre-eclampsia, although those with a family history of the condition, or who have had it in previous pregnancies, are at greater risk. Generally it starts after the 20th week of pregnancy, and warning signs can include high blood pressure and protein in the urine.
However, it is not easily treated, and if it worsens, it can place the health of both mother and unborn baby at risk so babies are often delivered prematurely.
The causes of pre-eclampsia are not understood, but scientists at the University of Texas believe the response of the mother's immune system to the pregnancy may hold the key.
However, Professor James Walker, consultant obstetrician at St James's University Hospital in Leeds and spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: "It's very interesting research, and there is other research suggesting that the immune system is involved in pre-eclampsia, but we don't know how much this is the cause of the condition, and how much is an adaptation by the mother to counter its effects.
Dr Margaret Macdonald, the chief executive of the charity Action on Pre-eclampsia, said there had been very little progress over the past 50 years of research into the causes of the condition. She said: "The possibility that it is auto-immune is supported by other, curious evidence, that women with many sexual partners have a higher risk of pre-eclampsia than women with few, long-term partners .... This suggests immune stimulation by 'foreign material' might be involved."
July 2008
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