Novel therapies to treat preeclampsia

Summary

Preeclampsia is one of the most serious complications of pregnancy. There are currently no treatments to cure preeclampsia. The management of preeclampsia relies on treatment to relieve the symptoms (such as blood pressure medication). But these medications cannot halt or reverse the underlying damage to the blood vessels. The only definitive cure for preeclampsia is delivery of the baby and placenta. Thus, there is an urgent unmet need for developing new therapeutic approaches for preeclampsia.

Problem trying to solve

We are working to identify novel therapies that can improve two key aspects of preeclampsia – placental and blood vessel damage. We have identified several drugs and designed peptides (proteins) to activate the ‘blood vessel health’ molecular pathway in preeclampsia. Our aim is to demonstrate that our new treatments can overcome the damage induced by the toxins released from the placenta in preeclampsia, and reverse or prevent blood vessel damage. We will do this using our experimental pipeline, looking at many aspects of blood vessel health.

Method

We have used two methods to find blood vessel protection therapies. 

1. We tested a library of drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and have selected 10 drugs that potently switch on the blood vessel protection pathway.
2. We designed new blood vessel protection therapies called peptides. This is an exciting approach, as the peptides are relatively large molecules.

Thus, while they may help protect the mother’s blood vessels in preeclampsia, they will not cross into the placenta or affect the baby.

Work so far

Currently we are testing the best drugs in the lab using our novel laboratory models.

What’s next

The data generated from this project will lead to animal studies to test the safety and efficacy of the drugs in models of preeclampsia. In the future it could lead to randomised clinical trials and translation to the clinic. New FDA-approved drugs to cure preeclampsia could revolutionise management of preeclampsia.

The Team

• Professor Tu’uhevaha Kaitu’u-Lino
• Professor Stephen Tong
• Dr Lucy Bartho
• Vi Nguyen
• Ping Cannon
• Manju Kandel

Our Supporters

• National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
• Trevor B Kilvington Bequest