Researchers in the US Create Innovative Blood Test for Preeclampsia Prediction

Key Takeaways

New blood test predicts preeclampsia risk effectively.
Uses RNA signatures for assessment.
Identifies risk in 91% of pregnancies.
Can predict early, before symptoms appear.
Improves risk assessment for maternal health.

New Delhi, April 8 (NationPress) A group of researchers from the US has introduced an innovative blood test that can forecast preeclampsia — a serious complication during pregnancy marked by elevated blood pressure.

Preeclampsia, typically occurring after 20 weeks of gestation, is one of the main causes of maternal morbidity and mortality, as well as preterm birth.

Even with the current use of general maternal characteristics to identify pregnant women at higher risk for preeclampsia, the incidence of this condition has nearly doubled over the past decade.

This new blood test, which utilizes RNA signatures, has demonstrated the ability to identify the risk of preeclampsia in 91 percent of pregnancies.

Dr. Kara Rood, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and one of the primary investigators of the study at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Centre, stated, "By the time a patient shows symptoms, it becomes a race against time to ensure the baby reaches term without jeopardizing the mother's health."

The test could potentially identify risk months before symptoms manifest in women over the age of 35 who do not have any pre-existing high-risk conditions.

It can predict preeclampsia early, between 17.5 to 22 weeks gestational age, for pregnancies without any prior high-risk conditions.

Women with a low-risk result have a 99.7 percent chance of not developing preterm preeclampsia.

Dr. Rood added, "Current guidelines are inadequate in helping us accurately identify which patients are truly at high risk, and we need improved tools. This preeclampsia risk prediction test can enhance risk assessment, enabling women and their healthcare teams to be informed and take proactive measures to potentially delay or prevent the disease."

The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, illustrates that leveraging molecular signals from the underlying biology is significantly more effective in assessing whether the risk of preeclampsia is high or low.

For the development of the blood test, the team analyzed data from over 9,000 pregnancies within a multi-centre prospective study to identify and validate RNA signatures capable of distinguishing between severe and mild hypertensive disorders during pregnancy, including preeclampsia, months prior to symptom onset.