Maternal serum activin A and follistatin levels in pregnancies with Down syndrome.
Inhibin A is now an established second-trimester maternal serum marker of Down syndrome. Since activin A has a common beta-subunit to inhibin A we evaluated this substance and its binding protein, follistatin, as potential markers. We studied 30 affected and 199 unaffected pregnancies at 13-16 weeks' gestation. There was a statistically significant increase in activin A level among the cases with 8 (27 per cent) exceeding the 90th centile in the controls, and 6 (20 per cent) above the 95th centile. However, the extent of overlap was too great to be of value in screening. There was a small decrease in follistatin levels among cases but it did not reach statistical significance.
Centre for Reproduction, Growth and Development, University of Leeds, UK. h.s.cuckle@leeds.ac.uk
H S
HS
Cuckle
I
I
Sehmi
R
R
Jones
L W
LW
Evans
D028341:Activins; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D038681:Follistatin; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000097:blood*; D006133:Growth Substances / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007265:Inhibins / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second / Q000097:blood; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods*
D015415:Biomarkers; D038681:Follistatin; D006023:Glycoproteins; D006133:Growth Substances; D028341:Activins; D007265:Inhibins