Patent ID: 8518923

Claim:
A method of treating a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (HDP) or fetal growth retardation, said method comprising administering to a female mammal a steroid selected from the group consisting of: (a) substances represented by the following formula in which formula R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 independently are a hydrogen atom, a hydroxyl group or an alkoxy group with 1-5 carbon atoms; each of R 5 , R 6 , R 7 is a hydroxyl group; no more than 3 of R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 are hydrogen atoms; (b) precursors capable of liberating a substance according to the aforementioned formula when used in the present method, which precursors are derivatives of the aforementioned steroids wherein the hydrogen atom of at least one of the hydroxyl groups has been substituted by an acyl radical of a hydrocarbon carboxylic, sulfonic or sulfamic acid of 1-25 carbon atoms; tetrahydrofuranyl; tetrahydropyranal; or a straight or branched chain glycosidic residue containing 1-20 glycosidic units per residue; and (c) mixtures of one or more of the aforementioned substances and/or precursors.