Letter by Lu et al. regarding article, "Esomeprazole and sulfasalazine in combination additively reduce sFlt-1 secretion and diminish endothelial dysfunction: potential for a combination treatment for preeclampsia".

We read with the great interest the article by Brownfoot et al., titled “Esomeprazole and sulfasalazine in combination additively reduce sFlt-1 secretion and diminish endothelial dysfunction: potential for a combination treatment for preeclampsia” (1). The authors deciphered the potential therapeutic value of combined someprazole and sulfasalazine additively in reducing the secretion of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) and soluble endoglin (sENG) for the pathogenesis of preeclampsia (PE), which was identified as new candidate medication to treat or prevent PE. Previously, we have noticed that the impacts of PE on women are not limited to the pregnancy itself but rather extended to the long-term life (2). Studies have demonstrated consistently that post-PE women were at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease later in life, such as ischemic heart disease, stroke and heart failure, and so on (3,4). Brown and Wu et al. have found that women with a history of PE had the increased incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) (5,6). In addition, it became more apparent that there was significant relation between insulin resistance and formerly PE (7). Notably, emerging evidence proving EGFR and sFlt-1 signaling pathways was associated with the long-term complications in PE became available (8). In light of the exciting clues, we wondered whether the available follow-up about long-term complication among women with PE and consequently the survival quality analysis would be included in evaluating the effectiveness of combining esomeprazole and sulfasalazine in extended studies for broadening our understanding of its effect. Hence, it was worth elucidating the long-term survival quality analysis, which might shed some light on the clinical value of combining esomeprazole and sulfasalazine and contribute to improve the prognosis of PE. Finally, we congratulate that the authors identified the combination of esomeprazole and sulfasalazine as the novel therapeutic strategies in PE and look forward to that our interest will stimulate intriguing findings carried out on the clinical use of esomeprazole and sulfasalazine.