Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Sep 6, 2024
Date Accepted: May 23, 2025
Study protocol: Investigating the role of Coenzyme A restriction in the pathophysiology of Pre-eclampsia: Protocol for a Combined Patient Screening and Laboratory Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Pre-eclampsia is one of the three leading causes of maternal mortality worldwide. Un-fortunately, the exact pathogenesis is still unclear. Published metabolomic and gene expression analyses point to Coenzyme A restriction in the placenta as a factor under-pinning the observed complications of pre-eclampsia, but this hypothesis has never been tested.
Objective:
Investigate the role of CoA restriction in pre-eclampsia
Methods:
This manuscript provides a rationale and a protocol for a clinical study and laboratory experiments to test this hypothesis. It involves screening pre-eclamptic patients for elevated levels of key toxic metabolites induced by the restriction. The laboratory study will involve treating cultured trophoblast cells in a variety of ways to determine if Co-enzyme A restriction can be induced. It involves both metabolite profiling of the culture medium for the toxic metabolites and expression profiling of key genes.
Results:
Patients are currently being recruited into the clinical study, and preliminary results will be published in 2026.
Conclusions:
The findings of this study will indicate if Coenzyme A restriction is associated with pre-eclampsia. If so, this provides a significant novel avenue for research into the treatment and prevention of the disease. Clinical Trial: Not applicable
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Copyright
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