Analysis of cheek swabs from pregnant women has revealed a potential biomarker for the dangerous pregnancy complication known as preeclampsia, researchers reported, a finding that could lead to a simple test to identify the condition earlier in pregnancy.

The condition is usually not identified until the second semester, after symptoms such as abnormally high blood pressure appear. Sometimes, the condition can go undetected until it becomes an emergency.

“If we have a biomarker for the susceptibility of preeclampsia, then there are some clinical management practices in the first trimester and early second trimester that could delay a preterm birth,” study leader Michael Skinner, PhD, of Washington State University said in a statement.

Preeclampsia, a potentially severe condition, can only be resolved through delivery of the baby and placenta.

Skinner’s team collected cheek cells from 49 women who had just given birth, including 13 who had preeclampsia and a preterm delivery.

They analyzed the cells for modifications to epigenetics, which are molecular factors and processes that determine how genes behave.

The 13 women with preeclampsia and preterm births had 389 epigenetic modifications to regions of DNA that activate or suppress various genes, according to a report in Environmental Epigenetics.

These modifications were not found in mothers without preeclampsia and had only a 15% overlap with epigenetics of other mothers who experienced preterm birth without preeclampsia.

The researchers said they hope further research will confirm that identifying these epigenetic changes in pregnant women in the first trimester will improve the management of those at risk for preeclampsia and help to delay or prevent preterm births.