Experimental Animal Models of Preeclampsia: Mechanisms, Strengths, and Translational Relevance.

Authors

Jane F Reckelhoff, Vladimir Dokic, Denise C Cornelius, Babbette LaMarca, Styliani Goulopoulou, Jessica Faulkner, Jenny L Sones, Mark Santillan, Michael Lin, Jungwei W Fan, Vesna D Garovic

Published in

Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology. Volume 46. Issue 9. Pages e322192. Epub Aug 26, 2026.

Abstract

Preeclampsia is a heterogeneous hypertensive disorder of pregnancy characterized by new-onset hypertension and end-organ dysfunction, affecting 5% to 10% of pregnancies globally. It is associated with significant maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality, and delivery remains the only definitive treatment. Understanding the underlying mechanisms is essential for the development of effective therapies.
Given the heterogeneity of preeclampsia and the absence of a single experimental model that fully recapitulates the human disease, the purpose of this review is to evaluate current animal models of preeclampsia according to the pathophysiological mechanisms they represent. We discuss the strengths, limitations, and translational relevance of these models, identify gaps in the existing experimental framework, and highlight opportunities for future model development and therapeutic discovery.
Current models reproduce distinct features of preeclampsia, including abnormal placentation, placental ischemia, angiogenic imbalance, endothelial dysfunction, immune activation, and metabolic dysregulation. Despite mechanistic insights, translational success has been limited. Future progress will depend on mechanism-driven model selections, development of models that better capture early placentation defects and disease heterogeneity, multi-hit approaches, including the incorporation of maternal comorbidities, and integration of human-relevant experimental systems to improve clinical translation.

PMID:
42647654
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 27 Aug 2026.

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