Mouse model developed.(preeclampsia)(Brief Article)

2002 APR 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Using new technology to monitor blood pressure, University of Iowa (UI) scientists and their colleagues have discovered that a lab-bred mouse with borderline hypertension may be a very good model for studying preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia is a serious disease associated with pregnancy. It is the leading cause of death in pregnant women and affects 5-15% of all pregnancies. Preeclampsia also is associated with a high risk of death and disease for fetuses, which are often abnormally small. If left untreated, preeclampsia progresses to eclampsia, a condition characterized by convulsions, which can result in coma or death. The only way to prevent the progression of preeclampsia to eclampsia is to deliver the baby and the placenta. Once the baby is delivered, the mother seems to completely recover.

The UI team believes that studies using the new mouse model will improve understanding of preeclampsia, and could lead to useful interventions and treatments for women with the condition. The study appeared in the February 2002 supplemental issue of the journal Hypertension (Feb. 2002).

"This syndrome was described by the ancient Egyptians, so it's something we've known about for a long time but we've never known what causes it," said Robin L. Davisson, PhD, UI associate professor of anatomy and cell biology. "One of the reasons we don't understand preeclampsia is that there haven't been any animal models that accurately mimic the disease that we see in humans."

Women with preeclampsia develop hypertension during the third trimester of the pregnancy and excrete increased levels of protein in their urine (proteinuria), which is a sign of kidney problems.

Population studies have shown that borderline hypertension is one risk factor for women who develop preeclampsia. This fact caused Davisson and her colleagues to take a fresh look at a particular strain of lab-bred mouse that had been developed by cross breeding several decades ago. These mice have slightly elevated blood pressure at rest and in that respect are similar to women who are at risk of developing preeclampsia.

"We set out to see if the mice would develop something that resembles preeclampsia during pregnancy," Davisson said. "But in order to do the necessary experiments, we needed to be able to monitor blood pressure in a pregnant mouse for the entire duration of the pregnancy and beyond delivery."