Diabetes Drug May Be Potential Treatment for Preeclampsia

Article title: The glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist liraglutide attenuates placental-ischemia induced hypertension

Authors: Subhi Talal Younes, Kenji J. Maeda, Jennifer Sasser, Michael J. Ryan

From the authors: "Drugs that target the glucagon-like peptide-1 pathway such as liraglutide are already used clinically, and it has been shown to promote endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS3) expression. We demonstrate that liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonist, lowers blood pressure, improves renal function and upregulates NOS3 in a rat model of placental ischemia."

This study is highlighted as one of January's "best of the best" as part of the American Physiological Society's APSselect program.