[Fetal erythroblasts from maternal blood for prenatal genetic diagnosis].
OBJECTIVE
To study fetal erythroblasts (FE) from maternal peripheral blood for the diagnosis of fetal aneuploidies.


METHODS
FE expressing the glycophorin A(GPA) were isolated from 13 pregnant women with male fetus (8-14 w) by fluorescence-activated cell sorting(FACS), FE were identified by oligonucleotide primed in situ labelling (PRINS) with Y centromeric satellite DNA primer. The concentration of pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) was measured by enzyme-labelled immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in serum samples of 41 normal pregnant women (8-14 w). In 5 pregnant women suspicious of fetal Down's syndrome (10-13 w) the serum and FE were examined by PAPP-A, GPA/FACS and PRINS with 21 chromosome centrometric primer.


RESULTS
Detection of flow sorted FE from 13 pregnant women by Y primer showed 14.5% of GPA positive signal. There was no difference in serum level of PAPP-A between 5 pregnant women and 41 normal controls, and all GPA positive cell nuclei of the 5 cases displayed two signals with 21 chromosome.


CONCLUSIONS
Measurement of fetal erythroblasts from maternal blood for the diagnosis of genetic fetal aneuploidies is a promising non-invasive, rapid and reliable technique.
Ma
X
X
National Research Institute for Family Planning, Beijing.
Cui
Y
Y
Wang
Y
Y
D000328:Adult; D004899:Erythroblastosis, Fetal / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006021:Glycophorins / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011266:Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A / Q000032:analysis; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods
D006021:Glycophorins; D011266:Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A