08/08/2026
Hello, everyone! Many of you have shared a new article from National Geographic and the University of Michigan about a possible cause and treatment for preeclampsia. We are making this Admin post with an analysis of the research and to keep the conversation all in one place. Please add your thoughts or questions in the comments, and we will do our best to address them.
Let’s jump to the end and the most pressing question you probably all have: Can I use this treatment in my next pregnancy? Sadly, no. This research is still in very early stages in animal and test tube studies. While they do hope to do human trials eventually, they have not started making solid plans yet. This will be at least 10 years and more likely 20+ before it is ready for widespread care, if it ends up working at all. Unless you have a chance to join a clinical trial, it probably will not be ready in time to help you. It may help your daughters and granddaughters.
It’s no smoking gun.
Ok, now for those of you wanting a more thorough analysis, here we go! We have known for a while that preeclampsia is a problem of the placenta. It is a normal, natural part of the birth process that starts happening in an abnormal way at the wrong time and place.
But if we back up a step and ask, why do some placentas work well and others struggle? That is the big question driving preeclampsia research today. This study at the University of Michigan found a possible cause, a gene and the protein it makes called VGLL3.
This is exciting research that shows a lot of promise. At this time, they have done some animal and test tube studies. They looked at 11 samples of human placentas, 8 with preeclampsia and 3 controls, and found some of the same things. Keep in mind, though, that 11 is not a very big sample size. They will need to repeat this study with a much larger sample to see if the conclusions hold true.
Researchers believe there are two main factors that drive preeclampsia, the genetics of the parents and how they work together to build a placenta, and then how that placenta works with the mother’s immune system to develop a blood supply. We know that autoimmune disorders are a risk factor for preeclampsia, though it is just one in a long list of risk factors. This protein appears to play a role in the immune response to placentas.
Researchers also believe that preeclampsia is likely multi-causal and that there are different sub-types. For example, late-onset cases that happen after 34 weeks likely do not have anything actually wrong but just have placentas that reach the end of their ability a little early. Early-onset cases that develop before 34 weeks are more likely to have an underlying risk factor. It is not clear yet how common this protein is as a possible cause. It could be all of the cases, The Cause, or just a small percentage. The researchers specifically excluded cases with chronic hypertension, so this is an example of a risk factor that we do not yet know about.
The researchers did develop a way to treat mice with what they learned from this study. At some point, they will try to develop a medication that can be used in humans, and then will need to run clinical trials to test it. This is a very long process, though. I know of several trials that have been going on for over 10 years and are still trying to recruit enough subjects to be statistically significant. The research process takes much longer than many people realize.
So, to sum up: Yes, this is exciting research. No, it will probably not be ready in time to help you during your childbearing years. We will be following it with interest over the next few decades to see what comes of it.
If you have (or want to buy) a NatGeo subscription, you can see the paywalled article here: https://on.natgeo.com/BrMD1q
Or a free version from the University of Michigan here: https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/researchers-discover-what-may-be-root-cause-preeclampsia-and-how-fix-it
If you want the scholarly version of the original research, it’s here: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.125.076218
BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia affects approximately 1 in 10 pregnancies, leading to severe complications and long-term health risks for both mother and offspring. While the etiology remains unclear, preeclampsia has been linked to both autoimmunity and the timing of menarche. METHODS: Through human singl...
