Preliminary studies by researchers at the Mayo Clinic, associate the high level of the HtrA1 protein and preeclampsia. These conclusions have been made public at the annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in Miami held these days.
This finding could lead to the development of a blood test that can track HtrA1 levels and identify women at risk of preeclampsia, since there is currently no test that can predict it.
In the investigation they evaluated the levels of this protein in specific placental cells of women with normal blood pressure, with mild preeclampsia and with severe preeclampsia, discovering the highest levels of the HtrA1 protein in third-trimester placentas of women with severe preeclampsia. The team of Dr. Brian Brost, said that high levels of this protein in women with severe preeclampsia, could cause a malfunction during the second stage of growth of the key placental cells called cytotrophoblasts, in their function of migration to the uterus and establishing the placenta
The development of a blood test to detect HtrA1 levels could be an early warning system to prevent preeclampsia.
