2026, Volume 19, Issue 4, pp 263 – 274

Epigenetic mechanisms in preeclampsia: translational therapeutic strategies and precision-medicine perspectives

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Authors and Affiliations

* Corresponding author Cristian Viorel Poalelungi, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania; Dr. I. Cantacuzino Clinical Hospital, Bucharest, Romania. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Preeclampsia is increasingly understood not only as a clinical syndrome of hypertension and organ dysfunction, but also as a disorder in which placental gene regulation, maternal vascular adaptation, and inflammatory signaling are shaped by abnormal epigenetic control. While several reviews have described epigenetic biomarkers in preeclampsia, the therapeutic implications of these mechanisms remain less clearly integrated. This review, therefore, focuses on the translational potential of epigenetic pathways as therapeutic entry points, with particular attention to DNA methylation, histone regulation, non-coding RNA networks, extracellular vesicle communication, and hypoxia-responsive placental signaling. Rather than treating these mechanisms solely as diagnostic signatures, the article evaluates how they may define molecular endotypes, identify pregnancies that could benefit from closer surveillance, and guide future interventions targeting upstream placental dysfunction. Potential strategies include selective modulation of DNMT and HDAC activity, microRNA inhibition or replacement, nutritional and environmental epigenetic optimization, placenta-oriented nanocarrier delivery, and pharmacogenomic stratification. The review also addresses the central barriers to translation, including tissue specificity, maternal-fetal safety, off-target epigenomic effects, ethical acceptability, long-term developmental consequences, and regulatory uncertainty. By reframing epigenetic alterations as actionable biological circuits rather than isolated biomarkers, this work provides a therapeutic and precision-medicine perspective on preeclampsia and outlines research priorities needed before epigenetic interventions can be responsibly evaluated in pregnancy.

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About this article

PMC ID: 
PubMed ID: 10.25122/jml-2026-0058
DOI: JMedLife-19-263

Article Publishing Date (print):
Available Online: 

Journal information

ISSN Printing: 1844-122X
ISSN Online: 1844-3117
Journal Title: Journal of Medicine and Life

Copyright License: Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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