 News
10th September 2008
The £1-a-month drug to help end miscarriageThousands
of women could be spared the misery of repeated miscarriages with a pill that
costs just £1 a month, it emerged yesterday. Researchers have found fresh
evidence that a third of unexplained miscarriages may be caused by an overactive
immune system. They believe treatment with a common steroid, used for asthma
and allergies, can curb the immune response and protect an unborn baby in the
crucial early weeks of pregnancy. The findings offer hope to around 9,000
women who have unexplained miscarriages each year in Britain. In preliminary
trials, around threequarters of women who had a history of miscarriages had successful
pregnancies after taking the steroid. Dr Siobhan Quenby, who is carrying
out the pioneering work at Liverpool University, is now beginning a larger trial
to make sure the results are not simply down to the placebo effect. She
also hopes to develop a test that could screen women for miscarriage risk before
they become pregnant. This would replace the barrage of up to 30 blood
tests that patients currently undergo to determine what may have caused them to
lose their baby. ‘It is a matter of life and death,’ Dr Quenby said.
‘There are thousands of people who are desperate because they keep miscarrying
and there’s no treatment. I am inundated with emails from women and there is a
massive, desperate need.’ Dr Quenby has previously shown that a third of
women who suffer recurrent miscarriages have an abnormally high number of ‘natural
killer’ cells in their uterus. These cells – which are part of the body’s
natural armoury – roam the body destroying viruses and infected cells. They
are also involved in the creation of new blood vessels. In the latest study,
Dr Quenby took biopsy samples from 120 women who had suffered repeated miscarriages.
She found high levels of NK cells increased the number of blood vessels in the
uterus in the early stages of pregnancy. These blood vessels increase the
amount of oxygen in the womb – at a time when a newly conceived embryo needs low
levels to implant itself in the womb lining. By giving pregnant women prednisolone,
Dr Quenby believes she can reduce oxygen levels and increase the chances of a
baby surviving. In early trials of the drug, 30 out of 40 women suffering
from repeated miscarriages, who also had high NK levels, went on to have successful
pregnancies. One had suffered 22 miscarriages. In a new trial which began
last month, Dr Quenby plans to test these results by giving half of the women
she recruits a dummy placebo and the rest a dose of the steroid. Prednisolone’s
side effects include mood swings and increased appetite. However, most
women would need to take it for just three months. Professor Susan Wray
of Liverpool University said: ‘There’s real hope that in five to ten years this
could have a significant impact. It’s really terrific.’ Where
to next? | 
