Understanding blood vessel and inflammation changes that affect the heart after preeclampsia
Official title: Identifying Inflammatory and Endothelial Mechanisms promoting Cardiac Deformation in Women with a History of Preeclampsia
Funded at The Christ Hospital · NIH-11252278 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work looks for lasting signs of inflammation and blood vessel damage in women 2–10 years after preeclampsia and links those signs to subtle heart changes.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R03 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | The Christ Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Cincinnati, United States) |
| Project start | January 1, 2025 |
| Project end | November 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $99,150 |
| NIH project number | 5R03HL177034-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11252278 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Women who had preeclampsia 2–10 years ago (and similar comparison women with normotensive pregnancies) would be the ideal candidates for this research.
✕Less likely to help
Women without a history of preeclampsia, women currently pregnant, or those more than 10 years postpartum are unlikely to benefit directly from this specific work.
What this research studies
Researchers will use blood samples from a prior group of 150 women (90 with prior preeclampsia and 60 with normotensive pregnancies) to measure inflammatory cytokines, endothelial biomarkers, and endothelial microvesicles. They will compare those biomarker levels to heart muscle deformation measured by cardiac MRI and to vascular function measured by EndoPAT and SphygmoCor. The focus is on women 2–10 years after their pregnancy to see whether chronic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction match the earlier-detected subclinical heart and vessel changes. Results will help explain why women with prior preeclampsia are at higher risk for cardiovascular disease and point to possible targets for future treatments.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could identify inflammation and blood-vessel damage as targets for therapies to reduce later heart disease risk after preeclampsia.
How similar studies have gone: The team's prior K23 study already found subclinical heart and vascular changes after preeclampsia, and this project takes the next step by linking those changes to inflammatory and endothelial biomarkers.
Where this research is happening
-
The Christ Hospital
Cincinnati, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Quesada, Odayme — The Christ Hospital
- Study coordinator: Quesada, Odayme
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.