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Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Prenatal Preeclampsia Exposure
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Prenatal Preeclampsia Exposure

Serena B Gumusoglu, Akanksha S.S Chilukuri, Donna A Santillan, Mark K Santillan and Hanna E Stevens
Trends in neurosciences (Regular ed.), Vol.43(4), pp.253-268
04/2020
DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2020.02.003
PMID: 32209456
url
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/7170230View
Open Access

Abstract

Preeclampsia is a dangerous hypertensive disorder of pregnancy with known links to negative child health outcomes. Here, we review epidemiological and basic neuroscience work from the past several decades linking prenatal preeclampsia to altered neurodevelopment. This work demonstrates increased rates of neuropsychiatric disorders [e.g., increased autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)] in children of preeclamptic pregnancies, as well as increased rates of cognitive impairments [e.g., decreased intelligence quotient (IQ), academic performance] and neurological disease (e.g., stroke and epilepsy). We also review findings from multiple animal models of preeclampsia. Manipulation of key clinical preeclampsia processes in these models (e.g., placental hypoxia, immune dysfunction, angiogenesis, oxidative stress) causes various disruptions in offspring, including ones in white matter/glia, glucocorticoid receptors, neuroimmune outcomes, cerebrovascular structure, and cognition/behavior. This animal work implicates potentially high-yield targets that may be leveraged in the future for clinical application. Preeclampsia exposure in utero increases later risk for psychiatric and neurological problems and is associated with brain morphological, white matter, and vascular abnormalities.Neurodevelopmental processes are likely affected by dysregulation of immune, oxidative stress, growth factor, and angiogenic processes in maternal, placental, and fetal physiology during preeclampsia.Animal models have highlighted multiple mechanisms underlying this risk and potential therapeutic/intervention targets.
prenatal risk animal models preeclampsia neurodevelopment

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