Molecular biomarkers for preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a sudden pregnancy complication that can interfere with the blood flow to the placenta and possibly to the fetus, it can lead to low birth weight, prematurity and death. It is also a leading cause of maternal mortality. A new Tel Aviv University study identifies novel molecular biomarkers of preeclampsia, signaling the potential for an early diagnostic blood test.

Research for the study was led by Dr. Noam Shomron and Prof. Moshe Hod and conducted by Liron Yoffe and other lab members, all affiliated with TAU's Sackler School of Medicine, and in collaboration with Prof. Kypros Nicolaides of King's College, London. Preeclampsia is a serious disease that endangers the health, sometimes even the lives, of the mother and the fetus.

The causes of  preeclampsia is unknown if caught in time it has a simple and proven remedy: low doses of aspirin administered from the 16th week until the end of pregnancy. Medical practitioners have assessed a woman's risk of preeclampsia by referring to previous pregnancies, blood pressure levels and other general symptoms. Blood test could predict preeclampsia and, in turn, allow doctors to provide treatment that would prevent the  onset of the disease.

Researchers examined the blood samples from thousands of pregnant women in their first trimester, the team then narrowed their focused to 75 specific blood samples: 35 taken from women who eventually contracted preeclampsia, and 40 taken from those who completed their pregnancies in full health. The researchers extracted the RNA molecules (snippets of molecular information present in human cells) from the plasma of the samples and sequenced these using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS).

The scientists discovered the new biomarkers by analyzing the data using computational methods that included statistical analyses and machine learning algorithms. They identified 25 small RNA molecules that were differentially expressed between the preeclampsia and the control groups. Based on those RNA molecules, they developed a model for the classification of preeclampsia samples.

These findings indicate the predictive value of circulating small RNA molecules in the first trimester, and lay the foundation for producing a novel early non-invasive diagnostic tool for preeclampsia, which could reduce the life-threatening risk for the mother and fetus.
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