First Trimester Maternal Serum Lysosomal Enzymes: Implications for Carrier Testing and Prenatal Diagnosis

Abstract Purpose To evaluate the usability of first-trimester maternal serum ProBNP levels in the prediction of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Methods In this prospective study, blood samples taken from 500 women who applied to our polyclinic for routine serum aneuploidy screening between the 11–14th gestational weeks were centrifuged. The obtained plasma samples were placed in Eppendorf tubes and stored at −80+°C. For the final analysis, first-trimester maternal serum ProBNP levels of 32 women diagnosed with postpartum IUGR and 32 healthy women randomly selected as the control group were compared. FGR was defined as estimated fetal weight below the 10th percentile for the gestational age. Results The mean ProBNP levels were statistically and significantly higher in the women with intrauterine growth restriction (113.73±94.69 vs. 58.33±47.70 pg/mL, p<0.01). At a cut-off level of 50.93, ProBNP accurately predicted occurrence of IUGR (AUC+= 0.794 (95% confidence interval 0.679–0.910), p+= 0.001) with sensitivity and specificity rates of 78.1 and 69.0%, respectively. Conclusion First-trimester serum ProBNP level was significantly higher in women who developed IUGR compared to healthy controls. First-trimester ProBNP level can be used as a potential marker to predict the development of IUGR in pregnant women.

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Maternal Vitamin D and Newborn Telomere Length

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13062012 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 2012

Author(s):

Lisa Daneels ◽

Dries S. Martens ◽

Soumia Arredouani ◽

Jaak Billen ◽

Gudrun Koppen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vitamin D ◽

Cord Blood ◽

Telomere Length ◽

First Trimester ◽

Maternal Serum ◽

Adverse Outcomes ◽

Dietary Vitamin ◽

Maternal Vitamin ◽

Vitamin D Intake ◽

Diet Supplements

Nutrition is important during pregnancy for offspring health. Gestational vitamin D intake may prevent several adverse outcomes and might have an influence on offspring telomere length (TL). In this study, we want to assess the association between maternal vitamin D intake during pregnancy and newborn TL, as reflected by cord blood TL. We studied mother–child pairs enrolled in the Maternal Nutrition and Offspring’s Epigenome (MANOE) cohort, Leuven, Belgium. To calculate the dietary vitamin D intake, 108 women were asked to keep track of their diet using the seven-day estimated diet record (EDR) method. TL was assessed in 108 cord blood using a quantitative real-time PCR method. In each trimester of pregnancy, maternal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) concentration was measured. We observed a positive association (β = 0.009, p-value = 0.036) between newborn average relative TL and maternal vitamin D intake (diet + supplement) during the first trimester. In contrast, we found no association between average relative TL of the newborn and mean maternal serum 25-OHD concentrations during pregnancy. To conclude, vitamin D intake (diet + supplements), specifically during the first trimester of pregnancy, is an important factor associated with TL at birth.

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