Funding outcome

Preeclampsia (PE) is a common (5-7%) pregnancy disorder that is a leading cause of maternal disease and death, and one of the most common reasons for induced preterm delivery. It is diagnosed by the development of high blood pressure and kidney damage after the 20th week of gestation. Both the cause and course of the disease remain poorly understood and delivery of the placenta and fetus is currently the only known cure for PE. Nonetheless, there is substantial evidence that reduced blood vessel function contributes to the development of high blood pressure in the disease. It is thought that this might be due to small particles that are released from the placenta into the mother's bloodstream. However, the specific cause(s) and process(es) are not completely understood. Our lab recently made the exciting discovery of a new pathway involving a receptor (called the LOX-1 receptor) that affects the blood vessels of women with PE. Interestingly, we also showed that the placental particles are able to disturb the function of blood vessels from rats via this new pathway. In the current studies, we will further identify how reduced blood vessel function develops in PE via this specific pathway. We are very excited about our discovery of specific pathways that may affect the blood vessels of women with PE and the proposed studies will further determine the role of these pathways in the development of PE. Thus, our goals are to increase our understanding of the development of PE in order to develop new therapeutic strategies to treat this disease in the future.