Pre-eclampsia is a common pregnancy complication and is one of the leading causes of death and injury to mothers and their babies worldwide. Pre-eclampsia occurs in the second half of pregnancy and is characterised by high blood pressure and protein in the urine. We do not fully understand why some women get this condition, but the function and leakiness of small blood vessels (capillaries) is important.

The glycocalyx, is a very thin gel-like layer which is found on the wall of all blood vessels. It seems to act as a barrier, controlling how much water remains inside the blood vessel. Researchers have recently started looking at the glycocalyx and have found in other conditions which cause leaky blood vessels (e.g. diabetes and kidney disease), the glycocalyx appears damaged.

Recently we have completed work to show that glycocalyx is not only present in blood vessels, but also the human placenta. We have done this by staining placenta with different proteins called lectins. These bind to the sugary glycocalyx, and when labelled with a fluorescent dye glow green under the microscope. We compare this green stain to a red membrane stain and can measure the depth of the glycocalyx.

We suspect that the glycocalyx is damaged in pre-eclampsia, like in other diseases.

ALSPAC offers an excellent resource of placental tissue, however, many of these specimens have been stored for a number of years and we know the glycocalyx can be a fragile structure. We propose a feasibility experiment, whereby the research team could look a small selection of ALSPAC placentas to examine if the glycocalyx has been preserved and can still be measured.