A test to identify women at increased risk of miscarriage

“Researchers have developed a test to identify women at increased risk of miscarriage, which could pave the way for new treatments to prevent miscarriages,” reports The Guardian . Such miscarriages are common occurrences, although their number remains difficult to estimate accurately. According to sources, it is estimated that between one in six and one in ten pregnancies end early.

To develop this test, the researchers relied on work they conducted based on the analysis of endometrial biopsies from a thousand women. The endometrium is the lining that lines the inside of the uterus, and it thickens just before ovulation. If fertilization does not occur, it is shed during menstruation. Otherwise, its role is to receive the embryo and support the development of the placenta throughout pregnancy.

The team discovered that an abnormal process in the so-called decidual transformation reaction of the endometrium could explain why some women miscarry. “When this reaction is not fully activated or is deregulated, it creates an unstable environment that, while allowing embryos to implant, increases the risk of bleeding and miscarriage,” reads the press release accompanying the study’s publication, published in the journal Science Advances on June 25. In addition, the researchers write, “our results show that erosion of the decidual reaction after miscarriage increases the risk of recurrence, regardless of the woman’s age.”

Based on these observations, the researchers developed a diagnostic tool that can measure signs of a healthy or defective response in the uterine lining. But more importantly, says Jyotsna Vohra, research director at Tommy's – the organization that funded the study – these results open the way to “treatments that could prevent future miscarriages.”

Until now, most research in reproductive medicine has focused on embryo quality to explain spontaneous abortions. This new study adds another piece to the puzzle of understanding these life-changing events for the women who experience them.