Patent ID: 7541182

Claim:
A method for determining if a pregnant woman is at risk of developing preeclampsia, comprising: (a) culturing human trophoblast cells in the presence of (i) anti-Fas antibodies and (ii) serum or plasma obtained from a pregnant woman to be assessed for risk of developing preeclampsia, wherein the serum or plasma is from the first trimester of pregnancy; (b) culturing an equivalent sample of human trophoblast cells under the same conditions as cells in (a) but in the absence of serum or plasma obtained from a pregnant woman to be assessed for risk of developing preeclampsia; and (c) comparing viability of cells cultured in (a) with the viability of cells cultured in (b), wherein if fewer cells cultured in (a) than cells cultured in (b) are viable, the woman is determined to be at risk of developing preeclampsia.