In a study using mice, researchers from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine found that a hormone, adrenomedullin, plays a crucial role in preventing the pregnancy complication preeclampsia. Surprisingly, this hormone protects women from preeclampsia when emitted by the fetus, not the mother, during the most critical times in pregnancy.
In a study using mice, researchers from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine found that a hormone, adrenomedullin, plays a crucial role in preventing the pregnancy complication preeclampsia. Surprisingly, this hormone protects women from preeclampsia when emitted by the fetus, not the mother, during the most critical times in pregnancy.
“We’ve identified the fact that the baby is important in protecting the mom from preeclampsia,” said the study’s senior author, Kathleen M. Caron, PhD, assistant dean for research at the UNC School of Medicine and an associate professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology. “If the baby’s cells are not secreting this hormone, the mother’s blood vessels don’t undergo the dilation that they should.”