The relationship between amniotic fluid macrophage colony-stimulating factor and fetal growth.
The aim of this study was to clarify whether amniotic fluid macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) is related to placental development and fetal growth. Maternal serum and amniotic fluid M-CSF levels were analyzed in 22 pregnant women (seven intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) complicated and 15 normal pregnancies) at 33-40 weeks' gestation. Amniotic fluid was obtained by transabdominal amniocentesis performed under ultrasonographic guidance. The mean amniotic fluid M-CSF level of the IUGR-complicated pregnancy group (5.0 +/- 1.4 ng/ml) was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than that of the normal pregnancy group (7.4 +/- 1.6 ng/ml). All the IUGR-complicated pregnant women subsequently delivered small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants with significantly lower placental weights than those of the normal infants. There was no significant correlation between amniotic fluid M-CSF levels and gestational age in the normal pregnancy group. The same scattergram showed the amniotic fluid M-CSF levels of the IUGR-complicated pregnancy group tended to be lower than those of the normal pregnancy group at 33-40 weeks' gestation. The results suggested that amniotic fluid M-CSF was one of the regulators of human placental development and was related to fetal growth.
Murakawa
H
H
M. Suzuki's Memorial Hospital, Miyagi, Japan.
Mori
S
S
Iida
S
S
Atsumi
Y
Y
Suzuki
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016173:Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D011247:Pregnancy
D016173:Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor