Preeclampsia and Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency

About 3 years ago on a lark, I looked up the location of the Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency gene on the human genome web site. To my surprise, I had an "aha" moment when I noticed that a different gene for hypertension (that I have) was startlingly close to the Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency gene on the distal long arm of chromosome 14.

I've always wondered about this:

* I have the M2Z genotype for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency.
* Both of my children have ZZ Alpha-1, a severely deficient genotype.
* Plus the fact that I have a form of hypertension that responds to an ACE inhibitor.

Did these facts contribute to the development of my severe preeclampsia???

It seems someone else (a smarter medical research team than I am) has indeed wondered the same thing.

Today, someone found my blog by doing a google search of "A1AT preeclampsia." This piqued my interest so I also searched using the same key words, and well, I stumbled on an article that was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

I'm simply "dying" to read this article, but I'm too cheap to spend $30 on something about which I can't even read an abstract. This is all that I can find about the article:

Evidence for alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT) polymerization in preeclampsia: A novel mechanism for endothelial cell injury
Irina Buhimschi1, Guomao Zhao2, George Saade3 and Catalin S. Buhimschi2
1Yale University, Obstetrics/Gynecology, New Haven, Connecticut
2Yale University, Ob./Gyn.&Reprod.Sci, New Haven, Connecticut
3University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Galveston, Texas
483. Available online 4 December 2006.

I've got to get myself to the real library to find that article. Or, hey Mom, can you share it with me? Do you subscribe to AJOB? Let me know.

If this provides me with the answer for "why" I developed severe preeclampsia twice, my brain may finally allow me to progress to the stage of acceptance. I mean...a mom can only hope to ease the guilt of having two premature babies somehow.