Tiny magnetic beads that move through the arteries could lower the risk of pregnancy complications from pre-eclampsia, the life-threatening high blood pressure that can occur in expectant mothers.
The technique has been used before to treat atherosclerosis (clogged-up arteries), but now scientists in France have shown it could be repurposed to prevent women from dying in childbirth.
Pre-eclampsia affects around six percent of mothers in the UK and 15 percent in the US – including Beyonce when she was pregnant with twins Sir and Rumi – and those numbers are climbing as blood pressure rises worldwide.
The condition raises blood pressure, causes headaches and pain for the mother, increases the risk of stroke during pregnancy or childbirth, and raises the risk of the child having a stroke in later life.
As experts race to find a cure or a treatment to lower the rate of maternal mortality, they are turning to all kinds of techniques that have worked for other blood-related conditions.
Magnetic beads could be the answer to treating the dangerous pregnancy complication preeclampsia (which Beyonce suffered), study finds
Magnetic beads are a relatively new tool used in scientific studies to separate cells and microorganisms.
The tiny magnetic beads – as small as human cells – can be characterized to bind to particular molecules.
Some studies suggest pre-eclampsia is triggered by the release of a molecule from the placenta (sFlt-1), gradually damaging the blood vessels.
High levels of sFlt-1 are responsible for blood vessel wall dysfunction, contributing to high blood pressure.
It also traps two other important molecules that enhance blood vessel wall function called VEGF and PIGF.
The team, led by Dr Vassilis Tsatsaris, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Cochin Hospital in Paris, was able to draw it out of the blood of women with pre-eclampsia in laboratory tests.
In doing so, they released the other crucial molecules (VEGF and PIGF) which sFlt-1 had been blocking.
They found that magnetic beads reduced sFlt-1 by 40 percent and freed up to two times more PIGF, reducing the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio by 63 percent.
Dr Tsatsaris said: ‘This was a proof of concept study and our approach aims to restore physiologic levels of angiogenic factors.
‘The reduction of sFlt-1 and the release of angiogenic factors is very significant and promising.’
Angiogenic factors is any of a group of substances present in the circulation – most of which are polypeptides which help form blood vessels.
The findings, published in the American Heart Association’s journal Hypertension, will be expanded on to see if the approach can control preeclampsia and prolong pregnancy while reducing the risks of prematurity for the baby.
As the arteries carrying blood to the baby are affected, it can cause the baby to receive inadequate blood and oxygen and fewer nutrients.
This can lead to slow growth known as fetal growth restriction, low birth weight or preterm birth – and the baby may be delivered early to save the lives of the baby and mother.
Preeclampsia is responsible for severe complications for the mother, including seizures, stroke, kidney failure and liver dysfunction.
The condition also increases a woman’s risk for cardiovascular disease later in life stroke and high blood pressure.
