Heart Disease Drugs to be Tested on Pre-Eclampsia Patients

The trial will involve pregnant women in the UK diagnosed with very early-onset pre-eclampsia.

Scientists from the University of Edinburgh will test whether heart disease drugs, known as statins, can be used to treat pregnant women with pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia causes high blood pressure and inflammation of the lining of blood vessels, and can also cause kidney and liver damage.

The researchers will conduct a trial to investigate whether statins can prevent the potentially fatal disease, which is responsible for around four million premature births worldwide each year.

Research shows that statins, which are prescribed to lower heart disease, could decrease the amounts of two proteins that are linked to inducing pre-eclampsia - soluble FLt-1 and soluble endoglin.