{"id":72785,"date":"2019-08-26T13:32:57","date_gmt":"2019-08-26T17:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=72785"},"modified":"2019-09-25T11:40:57","modified_gmt":"2019-09-25T15:40:57","slug":"baby-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2019\/08\/26\/baby-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby steps"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

From left: Melissa Kaufman, Chris Waker, Chanel Keoni, Sarah Williams and \u2028Danielle Spanbauer with Thomas L. Brown. (center).<\/p><\/div>\n

It was a nightmare. Five months into her pregnancy, Uohna June Thiessen\u2019s blood pressure skyrocketed and she was hospitalized. For Thiessen, much of what took place there is a blur.<\/p>\n

Doctors induced delivery but, sadly, she lost the baby. Even after that tragic event, her blood pressure remained high over the next few days. Thiessen began to have difficulty breathing and she suffered chest pains, the result of a swollen heart due to the high blood pressure.<\/p>\n

Thiessen had developed preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication responsible for more than 76,000 maternal and 500,000 infant deaths worldwide each year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did eventually get discharged from the hospital, but things didn\u2019t get better for a long time,\u201d she said. \u201cI could not see a baby on TV or in the streets, as I would cry uncontrollably.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Thiessen was working toward her Ph.D. in biomedical sciences<\/a>, she shared her story with Thomas L. Brown, vice chair for research in Wright State\u2019s Department of Neuroscience, Cell Biology and Physiology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly this is something that has left a permanent mark. How could it not?\u201d said Brown.<\/p>\n

Brown has spent the past 15 years studying preeclampsia, which can result from abnormal placental development and lead to a rapid and life-threatening rise in the mother\u2019s blood pressure. It can also cause kidney damage and impair liver function. This can cause seizures in mothers and result in reduced growth and development of the baby.<\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, advances the study of preeclampsia and has been internationally recognized. A paper on his research was published in February by Scientific Reports, a prestigious international journal.<\/p>\n

\u201cBabies born from a preeclamptic pregnancy are usually born prematurely and end up in the neonatal intensive care unit,\u201d said Brown. \u201cThey are usually going to be very small. They could have physical problems, cognitive issues, and developmental delays.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, our research has made a significant scientific breakthrough in the field of pregnancy and preeclampsia because our model is so close to what we see in humans. We are one of a few labs in the world that is able to achieve placental-specific gene transfer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown said other research models don\u2019t quite mimic preeclampsia because they usually affect the mother\u2019s entire body and not specifically the placenta, the organ that supplies oxygen and nutrients to the fetus. The embryo and placenta grow in 2% oxygen initially, but after the first trimester the oxygen levels rise. If the placenta fails to recognize the increase in oxygen levels, the placenta will develop abnormally and mothers can develop preeclampsia.<\/p>\n

Humans have a high level of the oxygen-sensing protein HIF-1, critical for placental development. This protein normally gets turned off in early pregnancy, after the first trimester. When the protein level stays on too long, it has been shown to be associated with the development of preeclampsia.<\/p>\n

To directly test the involvement of HIF-1 in preeclampsia, Brown and his team conducted studies on pregnant mice. They created a mutant gene so HIF-1 could not be turned off during development\u2014an animal model of human preeclampsia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a state-of-the-art model,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very sophisticated, so it\u2019s a little challenging. And it takes a very dedicated team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Left: Developing embryo three-and-a-half days after fertilization. Inner cell mass (circled) gives rise to the future baby. Right: Same embryo, tagged with green fluorescent protein to identify cells that will form the future placenta.<\/p><\/div>\n

Having identified a molecular target, the researchers can now determine how to regulate it. \u201cWe can now look at several exciting avenues of research that could lead to new treatments for this devastating condition,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

The research team will use promising new technologies that can carry drugs to the placenta without affecting the mother and baby.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking at identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying how preeclampsia happens, so that we can develop potential therapeutics and how to deliver those therapeutics without harming the mother or baby,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThat\u2019s been the challenge for quite some time. But I think we\u2019re getting closer and closer to being able to do that, which is pretty exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown says that if a woman develops preeclampsia, she has a two-and-a-half-fold greater chance of having it during her next pregnancy. If a woman\u2019s mother had preeclampsia during the pregnancy, the daughter also has a two-and-a-half-fold greater chance of developing preeclampsia. And if a man\u2019s mother was preeclamptic during pregnancy, he has a twofold risk of fathering a preeclamptic pregnancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we see with women who had preeclampsia is that they are definitely at higher risk of cardiovascular issues when they become older adults,\u201d said Brown. \u201cThey are also at higher risk of stroke and metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thiessen says research into preeclampsia is critical to understanding what causes preeclampsia and to reducing the racial disparity in surviving childbirth in the United States. She says African American women have the highest rates of preeclampsia and are three to four times more likely to die in childbirth than women of other races.<\/p>\n

Brown said the psychological impact of severe preeclampsia can be devastating to the immediate and extended family as well as the mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe baby may be in intensive care for six to nine months,\u201d he said. \u201cThey might die. You can\u2019t touch them, but someone always has to be there. Jobs might be lost. Relationships can become very strained. It\u2019s tremendously stressful for all involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thiessen said efforts are needed to better inform patients and families as well as medical personnel to the mental, physical and psychological aspects of preeclampsia and are of critical importance in treatment and care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public must be made aware that preeclampsia is a very serious condition,\u201d she said. \u201cIf more people understood what the disease is about and the impact it can have from a scientific, medical and personal perspective, it would help to deal with this harrowing experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Support this research<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Endowment for Research on Pregnancy-Associated Disorders at Wright State, established by Brown, is intended to create a permanent funding source for long-term research on preeclampsia and pregnancy-associated disorders. To support this effort, contributions can be made at wright.edu\/give<\/a> to the Pregnancy-Associated Disorders fund.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published in the fall 2019 Wright State Magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preeclampsia is a leading cause of maternal and infant illness and death worldwide, but Thomas Brown is trying to change that. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":72801,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4271,725,4827,2016,2115,715,18,746],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-biomedical-sciences-ph-d","category-home-news-sidebar","category-magazine","category-medicine","category-neuroscience-cell-biology-and-physiology","category-news","category-research","category-science-mathematics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72785"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73503,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72785\/revisions\/73503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}