PROVIDENCE – A California-based biomedical testing instrument maker has awarded $475,000 to researchers at Women & Infants Hospital and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University to study preeclampsia, or high blood pressure in pregnancy.
Preeclampsia affects 2 to 10 percent of pregnancies and is one of the most common and potentially life-threatening complications of pregnancy for both mother and baby, according to Dr. Karen Rosene-Montella, chief of medicine at Women & Infants and principal investigator of the study.
The causes of preeclampsia are unclear, but it is a leading cause of maternal death and may also put women at increased risk of cardiovascular or renal disease later in life. The only cure is delivery of the baby, so preeclampsia is also a leading cause of premature delivery.
If a woman who is at risk can be identified early on, Rosene-Montella said, treatment could be started right away to avoid the complications. But currently there are no tests to confirm the diagnosis of preeclampsia in pregnant women.
Beckman Coulter Inc., the company financing the new study, has developed blood tests that look for biomarkers believed to be predictors of preeclampsia. In August, the company bought out its U.S. royalty obligation to Nephromics LLC, a Chestnut Hill, Mass.-based company focused on women’s health, to fully own the rights to the tests.
Women & Infants is one of 10 hospitals in the United States and Europe that are participating in this study, and the only New England site. About 1,500 women are to be recruited. Blood samples will be taken from each of them at various times during pregnancy, and the samples will be tested for the biomarkers believed to be linked to preeclampsia.
If the study is successful, the tests could be used to identify women at risk of preeclampsia early in pregnancy. Most women who develop the condition – also called “toxemia” – are now diagnosed in the second half of pregnancy, when they are found to suddenly have high blood pressure (over 140/90) and protein in the urine.
The study will go on for two years. For more information locally, contact Sandra Befera at 274-1122, ext. 7070, or at sbefera@wihri.org.
Women & Infants Hospital, a member of the Care New England health system, is the primary teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics and the seventh-largest obstetrical service in the country, with more than 9,000 deliveries per year. For more information, go to www.womenandinfants.org.
Based in Fullerton, Calif., Beckman Coulter Inc. is a manufacturer of biomedical testing instrument systems, tests and supplies that simplify and automate laboratory processes. It has 200,000 system installations worldwide and reported 2007 sales of $2.76 billion. For more information, go to www.beckmancoulter.com.
