Nanomedicine as a potential approach to empower the new strategies for the treatment of preeclampsia

• Published in: Drug discovery today Vol. 23; no. 5; pp. 1099 - 1107
• Main Authors: Valero, Lucie, Alhareth, Khair, Gil, Sophie, Lecarpentier, Edouard, Tsatsaris, Vassilis, Mignet, Nathalie, Fournier, Thierry, Andrieux, Karine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2018; Elsevier
• Subjects: Life Sciences; Pharmaceutical sciences
• ISSN: 1359-6446; 1741-8364; 1878-5832
• DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2018.01.048

•Preeclampsia is a serious pregnancy disorder, no curative treatment is available yet.•Therapies aiming at regulating sFlt-1 and PlGF levels are promising approaches.•Nanocarriers could reduce fetal exposure while improving therapeutic efficacy.•Well-designed liposomes could empower challenging preeclampsia therapy strategies. Preeclampsia is a serious pregnancy disorder characterized by the onset of high blood pressure and proteinuria. Although the understanding of the disease is increasing, it remains without treatment, other than the delivery of the baby and the placenta. This review sets out to discuss some new developments and strategies in the treatment of preeclampsia. We briefly review the current knowledge on the preeclamptic pathophysiology. We then examine the recent trends in preeclampsia treatment and, in particular, the tracks of potential therapeutic targets. Finally, we focus on the possibilities nanocarriers could offer in the management of preeclampsia. Indeed, nanocarriers could help to prevent transplacental passage and promote placental-specific drug delivery, thereby enhancing efficacy and improving safety. Tendencies are then drawn from the available studies on the optimal characteristics of a nanocarrier to deliver drugs to the placenta.