mRNA therapy might one day treat deadly pre-eclampsia in pregnant women

A potential new treatment for a major complication of pregnancy could be on the way in the form of mRNA delivered via lipid particles. Pre-eclampsia occurs in 3–5% of all pregnancies and is responsible for half a million infant deaths each year.

The placenta is crucial for exchanging nutrients, oxygen and waste between the foetus and the mother. In pre-eclampsia, blood vessels in the placenta do not develop properly leading to the mother developing high blood-pressure that can trigger seizures, kidney and liver injury and stymie the growth of the foetus. ‘Blood pressure rises in the mother in an effort to keep pushing blood across the placenta to the baby,’ explains Kelsey Swingle at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. ‘There’s really no therapeutic to treat pre-eclampsia.’