Now, biomarker that predicts 'preeclampsia' 6 weeks into pregnancy

Scientists have discovered a biomarker that could give pregnant mothers and their doctors the first simple blood test to reliably predict if she would develop preeclampsia, at least as early as 6 weeks into the pregnancy.

Preeclampsia is a cardiovascular disorder typically diagnosed in the late second or third trimester of pregnancy and often resulting in an early delivery, creating immediate and potentially lifelong risks to both mother and baby and it also causes high blood pressure and protein in the urine.

Mark Santillan, M.D., assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist, Justin Grobe, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pharmacology and a Fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA), and Donna Santillan, Ph.D., research assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, demonstrate that elevated secretion of arginine vasopressin (AVP) can be a very early biomarker of a preeclamptic pregnancy.

The researchers found was that maternal plasma copeptin - an inert, stable biomarker of vasopressin secretion with a substantially longer half-life in the blood than vasopressin - is a clinically useful biomarker that predicts preeclampsia.

Using samples from the Maternal Fetal Tissue bank, a major part of the University of Iowa Women's Health Tissue Repository, copeptin levels were measured throughout pregnancy in maternal plasma from preeclamptic and control women. Copeptin levels were significantly higher throughout the preeclamptic pregnancies than in the control pregnancies.

The study was published online in the American Heart Association's journal, Hypertension.