A baby’s DNA may kick off mom’s preeclampsia
Suspect is protein made by the fetus and needed to form placenta’s blood vessels
A protein made by the fetus may lead to preeclampsia in moms.
People born to mothers who had the prenatal disorder were more likely to have certain DNA variations near a gene known to influence blood vessels. The results, published online June 19 in Nature Genetics, point to that gene as a possible preeclampsia culprit, and may help scientists develop ways to stop or prevent the pregnancy complication. Preeclampsia, which is marked by a dangerous spike in blood pressure, affects about 5 percent of pregnancies and is estimated to kill over 70,000 women a year globally.