Genes from both parents can increase the risk of pre-eclampsia, a serious complication that occurs in about 5 percent of pregnancies. Dangerously high blood pressure, fluid retention and protein in the urine are symptoms of pre-eclampsia. It can lead to eclampsia, which endangers the lives of both mother and the child. Eclampsia, in which pre-eclampsia symptoms worsen and the patient begins to have seizures, is one of the most common causes of death for pregnant women in the developing world. It is known that mothers can pass on the risk of the condition to daughters born after pregnancies affected by it. The following study shows that mothers who are affected by pre-eclampsia pass on a higher risk to all their daughters, including those born following normal pregnancies. If a sister or brother has preeclampsia when they were born, an unaffected sister will have almost the same risk. Researchers from the University of Bergen studied data on 500,000 births and found that the mother and father can pass on this susceptibility to their children. Men and women who were born after pre-eclamptic pregnancies contributed to an increased risk of preeclampsia in the next generation. It was found that daughters of women who had pre-eclampsia during pregnancy had more than twice the normal risk of having the complication. Men born after a pre-eclampsia pregnancy had a raised risk of having a daughter who would suffer from the problem. Doctors do not know what causes pre-eclampsia, which can starve the developing fetus of nutrients. The condition usually occurs after the 20th week of pregnancy. It is also more common in first and twin pregnancies. Treatment of preeclampsia consists of monitoring the mother and early delivery of the baby, usually by caesarean section. Scientists have identified a genetic defect that is a suspected cause of pre-eclampsia. The defective gene is linked to an enzyme that clears toxic compounds in the body.
BMJ,
September 2005