Maternal serum marker medians in Aboriginal Canadian women.
OBJECTIVE
The study evaluates the differences between Aboriginal and Caucasian women in the levels of maternal serum markers used in second-trimester Down syndrome screening (alpha-fetoprotein, unconjugated estriol, and total human chorionic gonadotrophin).


METHODS
A case-control study compared the levels of serum markers in 401 Aboriginal women and 1565 matched controls selected from 7717 Caucasian women. The cases and controls were screened in a single centre and matched for maternal age, parity, and sample date. Women with multiple pregnancies and pregnancies associated with Down syndrome, open neural tube defects, trisomy 18, and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus as well as women without weight recorded were excluded from the study.


RESULTS
No differences in the levels of maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein and total human chorionic gonadotrophin were observed between the two groups. Maternal serum unconjugated estriol was 12% higher in Aboriginal women.


CONCLUSIONS
Since Aboriginal women make up only a small proportion of women screened, correcting the level of uE3 for this group will have little effect on the overall screening performance. However, if these results are confirmed by further study, individual centres may consider making this correction, so optimal screening performance can be achieved in Aboriginal women.
Huang
Tianhua
T
Genetics, North York General Hospital, 4001 Leslie Street, Toronto, Ontario, M2K 1E1, Canada. thuang@nygh.on.ca
Summers
Anne M
AM
Wyatt
Philip R
PR
Meier
Chris
C
Côté
Gilbert B
GB
D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000097:blood; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D004964:Estriol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D012016:Reference Values; D044465:White People; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis
D015415:Biomarkers; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; D004964:Estriol