This study builds upon earlier findings by the last author, S. Ananth Karumanchi, M.D., of the Renal Division at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston. Dr. Karumanchi and his coworkers had previously discovered that a substance called soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) circulates in large quantities in the bloodstreams of women with preeclampsia and that sFlt-1 injected into the bloodstream of pregnant rats caused a preeclampsia-like illness.
Last year, Drs. Levine, Karumanchi and their coworkers reported that high levels of sFlt-1 likely influenced the development of preeclampsia, by binding to PlGF and VEGF. Because they were bound to sFlt-1, the two substances could not be used by the blood vessel cells that required them. A release describing that study is available at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/new/releases/preeclampsia.cfm.
Dr. Levine noted that a screening test for PlGF would probably need to be used in conjunction with other measures. He explained that a few of the 118 women who did not develop preeclampsia also had low levels of PlGF. To confirm that preeclampsia is present, women with low levels of PlGF could be referred for a blood test to measure their blood levels of sFlt-1.
A urinary test for PlGF could probably be performed less expensively than could a blood test for sFlt-1, because it wouldn't require the services of a medical professional to draw blood. Moreover, a urine sample could conceivably be collected at home, and then brought into a medical lab for testing. This would be an advantage over a blood test, especially in countries lacking trained medical staff to draw blood.
Currently, Dr. Levine is planning an additional study to more accurately predict the development of
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Contact: Bob Bock or Marianne Glass Miller
bockr@mail.nih.gov
301-496-5133
NIH/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
4-Jan-2005