Insight Into Devastating Pregnancy Condition

Raghu Kalluri and colleagues genetically engineered a pre-eclampsia-like condition in mice by preventing them from producing an enzyme called catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), which normally inactivates a class of neurotransmitters known as catecholamines. They found that the mice also failed to produce 2-methoxyoestradiol, a natural metabolite produced by COMT that normally increases during the last three months of human pregnancy.

This correlates with women with severe pre-eclampsia, whose levels of COMT and 2-methoxyoestradiol tend to be low. The authors hope that their discovery may assist diagnosis of the condition with a simple blood or urine test. They suggest that supplementation with 2-methoxyoestradiol might improve or possibly prevent pre-eclampsia.

Author contact:

Raghu Kalluri (Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA)
E-mail: rkalluri@bidmc.harvard.edu

Abstract available online.

(C) Nature press release.

Message posted by: Trevor M. D'Souza