British researchers have announced a test for a life threatening condition that afflicts pregnant women.
The Manchester researchers say they have found proteins in the blood that could be used as a test when a woman is pregnant for the first time.
The proteins indicate whether a woman is at risk of pre-eclampsia.
The research comes from samples taken at 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Researchers at Manchester University say they have found two proteins which are as closely linked to the condition as the current test, placental growth factor. The proteins are glycoproteins 5 and 9.
The findings are to be reported in the journal Molecular and Cellular Proteomics.
Researcher Dr Jenny Myers said: "We hope that these two new markers will be of benefit in the future for women at risk from pre-eclampsia to allow early intervention and/or closer monitoring.
“We also hope to understand the biology of the disease better by determining why these proteins are higher in women with pre-eclampsia and whether they have a role in the development of the placenta.”
A label-free SRM workflow identifies a subset of pregnancy specific glycoproteins as novel putative predictive markers of early-onset pre-eclampsia. Molecular and Cellular Proteomics. Molecular and Cellular Proteomics. In press.
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