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Molecular actions of heparin and their implications in preventing pre‐eclampsia
Author(s) -
Wat J. M.,
Audette M. C.,
Kingdom J. C.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of thrombosis and haemostasis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.947
H-Index - 178
eISSN - 1538-7836
pISSN - 1538-7933
DOI - 10.1111/jth.14191
Subject(s) - eclampsia , medicine , heparin , aspirin , anticoagulant , pregnancy , intensive care medicine , preeclampsia , bioinformatics , biology , genetics
Summary Pre‐eclampsia, a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, continues to be a significant cause of global maternal morbidity. Low‐dose aspirin remains the only standard‐of‐care prophylactic therapy for preventing pre‐eclampsia, but is limited in efficacy. Heparin and its derivatives may further enhance the efficacy of aspirin therapy to prevent pre‐eclampsia, but the mechanisms mediating this augmentative effect are not known. Although heparin is an anticoagulant agent, it also possesses many anticoagulant‐independent properties that may be relevant in the prevention of pre‐eclampsia, including effects on placental, vascular and inflammatory function. This review summarizes the non‐anticoagulant properties of heparin, and extrapolates how these actions may influence the trajectory of pre‐eclampsia pathogenesis as a means of pathway‐specific therapy.