Method of diagnosis of pregnancy-related complications
AssigneeDiagnostic Technologies Ltd.
InventorHamutal Meiri
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for diagnosing pregnancy-related complications in a pregnant woman. The method comprises (a) providing PP13-responding cells having a membrane; (b) exposing the cells to standard PP13; (e) exposing PP13-responding cells to PP13 obtained from the woman, and (d) determining the existence of a modification in the permeability of the cell membrane in (b) and in (c) as a result of exposure to PP13. The modification in permeability in (b) and (c) is then compared, a change in the permeability of (c) as compared to the permeability in (b) indicating the existence of a pregnancy complication in the woman.
Claims35
A method for diagnosing pregnancy-related complications in a pregnant woman comprising:
- (a) providing PP13-responding cells having a membrane;
- (b) exposing said cells to standard PP13;
- (c) exposing PP13-responding cells to PP13 obtained from said woman, the cells of step (c) being:
- i) other than the cells of step (b) or
- ii) the same as the cells of step (b), but after sufficient washing to remove the standard PP13;
- (d) determining the existence of a modification in the permeability of the cell membrane in (b) and in (c) as a result of exposure to PP13;
- and
- (e) comparing the modification in permeability in (b) and (c), a change in the permeability of (c) as compared to the permeability in (b) indicating the existence of a pregnancy complication in said woman.
A kit for diagnosing pregnancy complications in a pregnant woman comprising:
- (a) PP13 standards;
- and
- (b) a voltage sensitive dye.
A kit for diagnosing pregnancy complications in a pregnant woman comprising:
- (a) PP13 standards;
- and
- (b) a calcium sensitive dye.
A kit for diagnosing pregnancy complications in a pregnant woman comprising:
- (a) PP13 standards;
- and
- (b) a current sensitive dye.
A method for diagnosing pregnancy-related complications in a pregnant woman comprising:
- (a) providing a membrane phospholipid suspension;
- (b) exposing a first portion of said suspension to standard PP13;
- (c) exposing a second portion of said suspension to PP13 obtained from said woman;
- (d) determining the level of hydrolysis of the phospholipids to free fatty acids in (b) and (c);
- and
- (e) comparing the level of hydrolysis in (b) and (c), a change in the level of hydrolysis of (c) as compared to the level of hydrolysis in (b) indicating the existence of a pregnancy-related complication in said woman.
A kit for diagnosing pregnancy-related complications in a pregnant woman comprising:
- (a) PP13 standards;
- and
- (b) fatty acid standards;
- and, optionally,
- (c) developing reagents to detect free fatty acids and/or their derivatives.
A method for diagnosing pregnancy-related complications in a pregnant woman comprising:
- (a) providing a membrane phospholipid suspension;
- (b) exposing a first portion of said suspension to standard PP13;
- (c) exposing a second portion of said suspension to PP13 obtained from said woman;
- (d) measuring the production of prostaglandins in (b) and (c);
- and
- (e) comparing the amounts of prostaglandins produced in (b) and (c), a change in the amount of prostaglandins of (c) as compared to the amount of prostaglandins in (b) indicating the existence of a pregnancy-related complication in said woman.
A measuring apparatus for use in diagnosing pregnancy-related complications in a pregnant woman, the apparatus comprising:
- (a) a measuring unit operable to measure modifications in the permeability of the membrane of PP13-responding cells and generate measured data indicative thereof, and
- (b) a control unit having:
- i) a memory utility for storing reference data indicative of normal modification in the permeability of the membrane of a PP13-responding cell as a result of exposure to standard PP13;
- and
- ii) a data processing utility pre-programmed to be responsive to measured data obtained by using PP-13 obtained from a pregnant woman, for processing said measured data by comparing it with the reference data, and generating output data indicative of a difference between them, thereby enabling diagnosis of pregnancy-related complications.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.