Preeclampsia: Placental Origins, New Predictors and New Therapeutic Strategies

The multifactorial etiology of preeclampsia is contrasted by the fact that at the same time the presence of the placenta is a prerequisite for its development. Preeclampsia is related to a failure of the differentiation pathway of the villous trophoblast leading to an abnormal release of material into the maternal circulation. These factors shed from the placenta are involved in finally causing an inflammatory response of the mother. But the underlying cause and the developmental changes within the placenta leading to the placental dysfunction are unclear. Here we want to shed light on putative placental origins of preeclampsia, new markers that may be able to predict this syndrome already in the first trimester of pregnancy, and new strategies for putative therapeutics. These new therapies may be used to reduce the severity of the syndrome or even to stop the development of the clinical symptoms. Preeclampsia is a disease of placentation with a cause somewhen very early in gestation and the maternal systemic inflammatory response is the subject of clear debate and has led to the proposal of new treatment paradigms. Keywords: Preeclampsia, IUGR, placenta, trophoblast, apoptosis, aponecrosis, complement