Researchers in the US have successfully developed a new therapy that targets the placenta in pregnant mice to treat a serious complication of pregnancy.
Pre-eclampsia affects between 3–5% of pregnancies in women worldwide, with currently no available cure.It leads to insufficient blood flow to the placenta, causing maternal high blood pressure and restricted blood circulation to the foetus. If left untreated, it can result in eclampsia (seizures), organ damage, and, in extreme cases, death.
Researchers, at the University of Pennsylvania, used a targeted treatment based on mRNA technology (the same basis for Covid-19 vaccines), and lipid nanoparticles (LNPs).
The selected LNPs were successful in transporting the mRNA, derived from a gene (VEGF) that promotes the growth of blood vessels, directly to the placenta of pregnant mice with pre-eclampsia.
In the study, published in Nature, the researchers then observed that blood pressure was reduced in the pregnant mothers through to birth, as well as improved foetal health and blood circulation in the placenta.
Lead author, Kelsey Swingle, from Pennsylvania’s Mitchell Lab, said: “At birth we saw an increase in litter weight of the pups, which indicates a healthy mom and healthy babies.
"I am very excited about this work and its current stage because it could offer a real treatment for preeclampsia in human patients in the very near future.”