Professor Qi Hongbo, together with Professor Zhang Jianxiang and his team, has recently published a research paper titled Functionally Integrating Nanoparticles Alleviate Deep Vein Thrombosis in Pregnancy and Rescue Intrauterine Growth Restriction in the internationally-known academic journal Nature Communications.

Professor Qi is the president of the Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children (Women and Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University), or CQHCWC, in Southwest China's Chongqing. His co-author is Professor Zhang, from the Army Medical University. 

Nature Communications is a comprehensive sub-journal of the Nature series, and it is an authoritative academic journal publishing basic research and early clinical research in the field of biomedicine.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) during pregnancy can lead to pulmonary embolism, recurrent abortion, fetal growth restriction and placental abruption, which is life-threatening for both the mother and the fetus. Pulmonary embolisms caused by DVT are a major cause of maternal death, especially in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, when blood is hypercoagulable and blood flow is blocked.

In this study, a multi-functional nano-drug was constructed by self-assembly. It reached the local thrombus through active targeting, then reduced local reactive oxygen species and improved the inflammatory microenvironment, thereby treating DVT during pregnancy. At the same time, the nano-drug cannot pass through the placental barrier, which ensures the safety of the mother and fetus. 

The study is the first of its kind in the world. It explored the effect of nano-drugs on DVT during complicated pregnancies with fetal growth restriction, which will contribute to the study of clinical treatment strategies for related major pregnancy complications.