‘Window of hope’ for recurrent miscarriage sufferers

Researchers have identified a biochemical and genetic imbalance, which may cause women to suffer multiple miscarriages.

Wellcome Trust funded scientists at the University College London, have discovered that women who experience recurrent miscarriages – defined as three or more consecutively – share an imbalance in levels of some hormones.

Researchers have found that even at just six weeks’ gestation, levels of placental hormones, such as hCG, inhibin A and oestradiol, which are crucial to nourishment and development of the embryo, can be four times lower than in women who subsequently have a live birth.

Therefore, if doctors can monitor the levels of these hormones in the early weeks of pregnancy they will have a greater chance of identifying those at risk of a recurrent miscarriage.

Prof. Eric Jauniaux, who led the team of researchers at UCL, said:

“Recurrent miscarriage is a terribly distressing experience for many couples. If we are able to identify these clear hormonal variations early enough, we believe there is a real window of hope for the development of preventative therapies for these patients.”

Recurrent miscarriage affect 1% of women, while one in five of all pregnancies end with miscarriage - the vast majority of those occur in the first 12 weeks of development.

Follow up studies are currently being planned to further investigate these findings and to discover if these hormonal markers can be used in identifying those vulnerable to all types of miscarriage and how hormonal imbalances can be controlled.

ENDS

Media contacts:

Mark Anderson – 020 7611 8612

m.anderson@wellcome.ac.uk

Notes to Editor:

1. The Wellcome Trust is an independent research funding charity established in 1936 under the will of the tropical medicine pioneer Sir Henry Wellcome. The Trust’s mission is to foster and promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health and it currently spends over £400 million per annum.