title: Amniotic fluid gel cholinesterase density ratios in fetal open defects of the neural tube and ventral wall.
abstract: Densitometry was used to measure gel acetyl- and pseudocholinesterase bands in a selection of amniotic fluid samples yielding positive alpha-fetoprotein and positive gel acetylcholinesterase results. The samples were associated with the following conditions: 28 anencephaly (10 stained with fetal blood), 20 open spina bifida (3 stained with fetal blood), 10 open ventral-wall defects (2 stained with fetal blood) and 5 unaffected pregnancies (all stained with fetal blood). In samples not visibly stained with fetal blood, the ratio of the acetylcholinesterase density to the pseudocholinesterase density distinguished between open ventral-wall defects and open neural-tube defects: the former group all had values less than 0.13, while the latter all had values greater than that. In amniotic fluid samples which were stained with fetal blood the acetylcholinesterase/pseudocholinesterase ratio did not offer useful diagnostic information; results from unaffected pregnancies overlapped with those from pregnancies with both ventral-wall defects and open neural-tube defects.
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000378:metabolism*; D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000201:enzymology*; D000757:Anencephaly / Q000175:diagnosis; D002091:Butyrylcholinesterase / Q000378:metabolism*; D002802:Cholinesterases / Q000378:metabolism*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000201:enzymology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D016136:Spina Bifida Occulta / Q000175:diagnosis
chemical_list: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase; D002091:Butyrylcholinesterase; D002802:Cholinesterases