Pentoxifylline Lifts the Burden of Preeclampsia

Abstract

Worldwide, Preeclampsia is the leading cause of maternal morbidity and perinatal mortality and it initiates as inappropriate immune response to trophoblastic invasion impairs placentation and placental circulation followed by generation of superoxide anions as well as anti-angiogenic factors and this series of events result in impairment of maternal/placental endothelial function, maternal hypertension, kidney injury, proteinuria and thromboembolic events. Renal loss of anti-coagulant proteins and subsequent hyper-coagulable state along with endothelial dysfunction accelerates progression of the disease toward eclampsia. Pentoxifylline, could hypothetically modify pathophysiological mechanisms of preeclampsia including impaired immune response, placentation, endothelial function and coagulation, so it could explore new horizons in treatment of preeclampsia.