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To date, there has been no causal therapy for the treatment of pre-eclampsia, a serious complication of pregnancy. Researchers from the University of Leipzig Medical Center have played a key role in an international study that has, for the first time, successfully tested a therapeutic approach in patients: a specialised form of blood filtration can remove the protein that triggers the disorder. The findings have been published in the leading journal Nature Medicine.
Pre-eclampsia is a condition that is among the leading causes of health complications and deaths in mothers and their babies worldwide. It usually develops after the 20th week of pregnancy and is associated with high blood pressure and protein in the urine. Until now, the only effective treatment option has been to end the pregnancy prematurely – often resulting in preterm birth and the associated consequences.
Around 20 years ago, US researchers identified the key “toxic” protein in maternal blood responsible for triggering pre-eclampsia: soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1). Although this protein is now used in the diagnosis of the condition, there has so far been no way of targeting it therapeutically. In the new high-profile pilot study, an international team has now developed a procedure in which the protein that causes the disorder is removed from the blood of pregnant women using a specific antibody. Professor Holger Stepan, Head of Obstetrics at the University of Leipzig Medical Center and Dean of Midwifery Studies at Leipzig University’s Faculty of Medicine, played a key role in the study.
Technically, the new procedure is based on a specialised form of blood filtration known as apheresis. A specially developed filter selectively binds and removes the toxic protein that causes the disorder. Following successful preclinical studies, including in animal models in Australia, the apheresis procedure has now been used in pregnant patients for the first time. A total of nine women were treated as part of the study, including seven at the University of Leipzig Medical Center and two at the University Hospital Cologne. “The results are promising: we were able to show that the concentration of the protein that causes the disorder in the blood can be reduced. At the same time, the patients’ clinical condition stabilised and, in several cases, it was possible to prolong the pregnancy,” says Holger Stepan. “This is an important step towards a causal therapy for pre-eclampsia.”
The international study is the result of around 15 years of research – from the initial laboratory investigations and the development of a specific filter through to clinical application. Close collaboration between international medical institutions played a central role, as did support from the German industry partner Miltenyi Biotec, which developed and provided the necessary filter technology. The Leipzig apheresis team led by Professor Holger Stepan closely monitored the first patients during treatment and made a major contribution to the clinical implementation of the procedure.
In further studies, the researchers now plan to investigate whether the procedure can be established as a long-term standard therapy. The next step is a larger multicentre trial involving significantly more patients.
More information: Research into pre-eclampsia has been a central focus of the scientific and clinical work carried out by obstetricians in Leipzig for the past 25 years. Back in 2009, Leipzig became the first centre worldwide to introduce so-called angiogenic factors – proteins used to predict and diagnose placental dysfunction – into routine pregnancy diagnostics.
Translation: Matthew Rockey
Professor Holger Stepan
Head of the Department of Obstetrics, University of Leipzig Medical Center
Professor of Obstetrics and Dean of Midwifery Studies, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig University
Email: holger.stepan@medizin.uni-leipzig.de
Tel: +49 341-9723595
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-026-04333-6
Original publication in Nature Medicine: Targeted removal of soluble Fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 in very preterm preeclampsia: a pilot trial. DOI: 10.1038/s41591-026-04333-6
One of the main symptoms of preeclampsia is high blood pressure.
Source: Colourbox
Copyright: Colourbox
Professor Holger Stepan.
Source: Stefan Straube
Copyright: UKL
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One of the main symptoms of preeclampsia is high blood pressure.
Source: Colourbox
Copyright: Colourbox
Professor Holger Stepan.
Source: Stefan Straube
Copyright: UKL
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