Abstract: Pre-eclampsia is a pregnancy-specific disease，which is chararized by hypertension and proteinuria，and may be accompanied by multiple organ damages. Because its etiology is unknown，and except for termination of pregnancy，there are no effective treatments, pre-eclampsia is the main cause of maternal mortality. The pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia has not been expounded. In recent years，the development of epigenetic，especially the study of DNA methylation, provides a new perspective for the diagnosis and treatment of preeclampsia. The study found that many important functional abnormalities of whole genome methylation and aberrant CpG island methylation related to gene expression in pre-eclampsia abnormalities，presumably occurs indirectly involved in pre-eclampsia. This paper summanizes of the research status and advances of gene DNA methylation in pre-eclampsia.

Key words: Pre-eclampsia, Genetic phenomena, Genetics, DNA methylation, Trophoblasts, Placenta