Betamethasone: a novel therapeutic intervention for preeclampsia

The early pathogenesis of preeclampsia (PE) involves a systemic inflammatory immune response. Recent data demonstrate that increased circulating arginine vasopressin (AVP) in humans is predictive of PE and that infusion of AVP in mouse dams phenocopies the pregnancy-specific cardiovascular and immune alterations observed in human PE. Specifically, AVP suppresses antiinflammatory cytokines and cells. Betamethasone (BMTZ), commonly given to women at risk for preterm birth, is both an AVP and immune response modulator. We hypothesize that early treatment with BMTZ will prevent the development of AVP-induced PE. C57BL/6J dams were infused with AVP (24 ng/hour) or saline throughout gestation via osmotic minipump. AVP dams received a single subcutaneous injection of BMTZ (100ug) early postplacentation (gestational day (GD) 7). Blood pressure was measured throughout pregnancy. Total protein was measured on 24 hour urine collected on GD 17. Maternal and fetal tissues were collected on GD 18. Cytokine concentrations were determined via commercially available ELISAs and normalized to total protein.