Gynuity Announces Collaboration with Academic Institutions to Understand the Feasibility of Introducing a New Screening Tool for Preeclampsia in Healthcare Facilities in Ethiopia and Uganda

Gynuity Health Projects is collaborating with academic institutions in the U.S., Ethiopia, and Uganda to understand the feasibility of introducing a novel diagnostic screening tool for early identification of preeclampsia in antenatal care services.

A multicenter pilot study is planned in Ethiopia and Uganda to understand how a simple urine point-of-care test, the Congo Red Test or CRT, can be used to screen for preeclampsia in parallel with or in lieu of existing diagnostic strategies (e.g., measuring blood pressure and proteinuria).

Detecting and treating preeclampsia early can lower the risk of severe outcomes and reduce levels of maternal and perinatal death. Using current methods, diagnostic practices are highly variable and imperfect. A preeclampsia-specific test simplifies the identification of women in need of care.

Researchers have shown that pregnant women with preeclampsia excrete misfolded proteins in their urine, which bind to Congo Red dye (“congophilia”). The affinity of misfolded proteins for this dye led to the development of the CRT, a preeclampsia-specific test that can be used at the bedside or in outpatient settings.

Our previous prospective diagnostic case-control study in Bangladesh and Mexico evaluating the clinical utility and usability of a CRT prototype confirmed its promise for rapid identification of preeclampsia in tertiary-level hospitals.

If successful, this current initiative could lead to the clinical uptake of the CRT diagnostic device in routine antenatal care services and serve as a model for adoption in other countries where the burden of disease is great.

This project is supported by funding from Grand Challenges Canada to the University of Illinois, Chicago. Gynuity Health Projects, a subcontractor for this project, will provide technical support to the study.

If you are interested in finding out more about our work to support advances in diagnosis and management of preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, visit our website www.gynuity.org or email us at Comms@gynuity.org