Toxemia Pregnancy Caused By Microscopic Parasite

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KILLER IN PREGNANCY

UPI

Published: January 27, 1983

Researchers today reported the discovery of a micro-organism they believe is linked to toxemia of pregnancy, which may cause the deaths of up to five million expectant mothers and fetuses worldwide each year.

Toxemia of pregnancy is the second most important cause of maternal and fetal death, after hemorrhage, according to health officials. ''About 5 to 10 percent of all pregnant women will have the disease,'' Dr. Silvio Aladjem, chairman of Loyola University Medical Center's obstetrics and gynecology department, said in an interview. He said the incidence of the disease worldwide was hardly, if at all, affected by prevailing conditions of sanitation and general health.

In mothers, the disease can produce high blood pressure, swelling, blood in the urine, convulsions and death. For the fetus, it can cause growth retardation and death. Kills Thousands of Fetuses

In the United States, 150,000 to 300,000 cases of toxemia of pregnancy occur each year. From 12,000 to 24,000 fetuses die of the disease annually.

Dr. Aladjem and Dr. Judith Lueck performed experiments showing that the syndrome was associated with a microscopic organism that was previously unknown. They said the organism, which they have named Hydatoxi lualba, resembled the parasites that caused filariasis and hookworm.

Results of their eight-year studies were published in The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. ''Our ultimate objective,'' Dr. Aladjem said, ''is to provide the basis for a worldwide campaign to eradicate the disease. Because of the magnitude of the toxemia problem, finding a cure for the disease would have a major worldwide repercussion.''

''Toxemia frequently produces intrauterine growth retardation and fetal death as well as hypertension, swelling and - in the most severe forms - convulsions in the mother,'' Dr. Aladjem said.

''Because the ultimate treatment for toxemia is delivery of the fetus, and because the condition usually appears around the seventh month of pregnancy, toxemia is a common cause of premature births,'' Dr. Aladjem said. Found in Placental Tissue

Dr. Lueck observed the organism in the placental tissue of toxemic mothers and identified it in the circulating blood of toxemic patients.

The researchers injected pregnant and nonpregnant laboratory animals with concentrates of human placenta from toxemic and nontoxemic mothers.

''The pregnant animals injected with the organism developed toxemic syndrome and organ changes, while the nonpregnant animals did not,'' Dr. Lueck said. ''The pregnant and nonpregnant animals injected with placental concentrates from nontoxemic mothers did not develop the symptoms of the disease.''