Blood clotting disorder causes miscarriages

Women with the rare autoimmune disorder Antiphospholipid syndrome APS are prone to successive pregnancy losses. APS causes abnormal blood clots in the arteries or veins along with the risks that go with clotting, including stroke and Deep Vein Thrombosis. For pregnant women the effects of the disorder can be devastating, causing about half of them to be at risk of sequential miscarriages, spontaneous abortions or premature births.

Researchers have identified a protein that may protect against APS miscarriages. The researchers used purpose-bred mice injected with the antibodies that cause the condition to test the effects of the proteins CD39 and CD73, which work together to produce a molecule known as adenosine.

Adenosine has anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-clotting properties. APS occurs when there is an increased level of circulating antibodies-the proteins designed to attack invading pathogens in the system but which, in the case of autoimmune diseases such as APS, attack the body's own cells. It was known that these antibodies were linked to clotting but not all patients with them go on to have APS.

The rates of miscarriages were compared in mice that lacked CD39 and CD73, in normal mice, and in mice with large amounts of the two proteins in their blood. The study found, as hypothesised, that mice that lacked CD39 and CD73 both had increased rates of miscarriages. Those with no CD39 lost 20% of fetuses. That is a six-fold increase compared with normal mice which lost 3.67% of fetuses. The mice with no CD73 had a three-fold increase. Mice with large amounts of CD39 had reduced miscarriage rates compared to those without it.
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Hemlibra for treating hemophilia

 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Hemlibra (emicizumab-kxwh) to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes in adult and pediatric patients with hemophilia A who have developed antibodies called Factor VIII (FVIII) inhibitors. Reducing the frequency or preventing bleeding episodes is an important part of disease management for patients with hemophilia.

Hemophilia A is an inherited blood-clotting disorder that primarily affects males. According to the National Institutes of Health, hemophilia affects one in every 5,000 males born with the condition. Patients with hemophilia A are missing a gene which produces Factor VIII, a protein that enables blood to clot.

Patients may experience repeated episodes of serious bleeding, primarily into their joints, which can be severely damaged as a result. Some patients develop an immune response known as a FVIII inhibitor or antibody. The antibody interferes with the effectiveness of currently available treatments for hemophilia.

Hemlibra is a first-in-class therapy that works by bridging other Factors in the blood to restore blood clotting for these patients. Hemlibra is a preventative (prophylactic) treatment given weekly via injection under the skin (subcutaneous).

Patients treated with Hemlibra reported an improvement in hemophilia-related symptoms (painful swellings and joint pain) and physical functioning (pain with movement and difficulty walking) compared to patients who did not receive prophylactic treatment. Common side effects of Hemlibra include injection site reactions, headache, and joint pain (arthralgia).

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