Studies in humans highlight the importance of regulating kisspeptin production during gestation; increased placental kisspeptin is associated with pre-eclampsia (Whitehead et al., 2013; Matjila et al., 2016) and reduced circulating kisspeptin is observed in women with hypertension and diabetes during pregnancy (Cetković et al., 2012; Matjila et al., 2016). Here, KISS1 is linked to hypertensive disorder.