Minerva

Blood pressure readings in pregnancy taken from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children suggest that women at risk of developing hypertensive conditions show distinctive blood pressure patterns from early pregnancy (Hypertension 2012;59:1241-8, doi:10.1161/hypertensionaha.111.187039). Women with higher blood pressure at eight weeks’ gestation were more likely than normotensive women to develop gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia, and essential hypertension. Blood pressure rose more rapidly from 18 weeks in gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia, and from 30 weeks in essential hypertension.

Patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia who relapse have a characteristic gene expression and methylation signature associated with chemoresistance. A group working on the theory that reversing this signature could restore chemosensitivity has been able to reprogramme the aberrant gene expression profile using epigenetic mechanisms (Blood 2012;119:5201-10, doi:10.1182/blood-2012-01-401687). After incorporating DNA methyltransferase inhibitors into primary patient samples and leukaemia cell …