Malaria Combination Drug may Help Stop Complications in Pregnant Patients with Lupus

A recent study shows how an anti-malaria drug combination could be helpful in preventing pregnancy complications in women with lupus and the related disorder antiphosphollpid syndrome.

According to researchers from the Yale School of Medicine, they found that an anti-malaria drug may help to prevent pregnancy complications in women with lupus and related disorder antiphospholipid syndrome.

The study notes that patients with lupus or antiphospholipd syndrome are often treated with the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine. The drug can be safely continued during pregnancy. However, it is unknown at this time whether it is actually beneficial in preventing complications in pregnant women with the aforementioned health issues.

Study authors Vikki M. Abrahams, associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale, and Yale medical student Caroline Albert, explored whether the drug could actually treat obstetrical antiphospholipid syndrome. To do this, they use a lab-based system that measures the detrimental effects of antiphospholipid antibodies on human placental trophoblast cell function.

"We found that hydroxychloroquine partially reversed some, but not all, of the detrimental effects of antiphospholipid antibodies on human placental cell function," said Abrahams, via a press release. "So perhaps some form of combination therapy that includes hydroxychloroquine may be beneficial to pregnant patients with lupus and/or antiphospholipid syndrome."

More information regarding the study can be found via the American Journal of Reproductive Immunology.