Identifying the cause of the dangerous pregnancy complications

Pregnancy complications that killed each year in more than 60,000 women and hundreds of thousands of babies - U.S. scientists have discovered a gene pre-eclampsia. The discovery could lead to a diagnostic test, and new methods of treatment for the disease, reports the journal Nature. Preeclampsia occurs in the second half of pregnancy, is a manifestation of late toxemia of pregnancy. Causes of the disease, the 5% of women are affected insecure, and the only effective treatment is to stimulate his premature birth. Scientists found the medicine that, based preeklamsii may be defective gene COMT, encoding the enzyme catechol-O-methyltransferase. This enzyme is important for the formation of protein-2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME), which regulates the process of formation of new vessels in the placenta. Normally, in the last three months of pregnancy, the concentration of this protein increases, but in patients with preeclampsia its level remains low, the study found. The head of the team of scientists Kallur Raghu (Raghu Kalluri) with genetic deficiency of the protein 2-ME in pregnant mice are classic signs of preeclampsia: the increase in blood pressure, the presence of protein in urine and hypoxia by an injury to the formation of vessels of the placenta caused. The introduction of the missing protein led to the disappearance of most of the symptoms, wherein Kallur. In the future, scientists have confirmed the role of the COMT gene in the development of preeclampsia in clinical trials. In case of a positive result, the development of effective drugs and a test for early detection of women who are predisposed to the disease can be initiated.