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Amsterdam/Adelaide (pte033/04.04.2005/14:30) - Scientists have discovered a gene that can cause problems during pregnancy. As the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk reports, it can put the lives of mothers and babies at risk. According to Dutch researchers, the gene is passed down to a daughter by the mother. Women with this gene who become pregnant risk having pre-eclampsia and its associated blood pressure and kidney problems that can be fatal, they claim. It could also be possible to screen for the gene.
Up to one in 10 pregnant women can get pre-eclampsia. In about one in 50 cases, the condition will be severe. It can be very serious and is still responsible for the death of between three and five women a year as well as between 500 and 600 Babys. The condition is caused by a defect in the placenta, which joins mother and baby and supplies the baby with nutrients and oxygen from the mother's blood. Scientists still do not fully understand what causes it.
Researchers from Amsterdam's VU University Medical Centre, working with Australian colleagues at Adelaide University, looked at families with two or more sisters who had experienced pre-eclampsia during a pregnancy. By analysing the family members' DNA, they found a version of one particular gene - STOX1 - was common among the 67 women with a history of pre-eclampsia. STOX1 is known to be expressed in the placenta during the critical stage in which it invades the lining of the womb in early pregnancy. According to the researchers, the version that the women with pre-eclampsia inherited from their mothers does not function as well as most other forms of the gene. Women with one faulty copy have a 50-50 chance of the gene being expressed in the placenta.
"We hope to be able to screen women for this gene," said lead researcher Cees Oudejans. "It could be a simple blood test. Women with a copy of the faulty gene could have a repeat blood test if they become pregnant to see whether they were expressing the gene in their placenta. It might be possible to prevent complications with treatment," he added. "In our study, one woman who, in theory, should have pre-eclampsia, according to her genetics, did not. She had received heparin and aspirin during early pregnancy. One of the things we should look at is whether early treatment with these kind of medicine helps," he said. "A genetic link in pre-eclampsia has long been recognised with a woman whose mother or sisters have had pre-eclampsia being approximately at triple the risk of developing the disease herself," said Michael Rich, chief executive of Action on Pre-eclampsia. "What is clear is that a full family history should be taken at a pregnant woman's first "booking" appointment and that women should be made aware of the genetic link that exists in pre-eclampsia," he added.
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