title: [Maternal serum concentration of corticotropin releasing hormone (CRF) as a marker of preterm labor].
abstract: There is still an urgent need for obstetricians to develop new, noninvasive, accurate methods of diagnosing preterm labor. The purpose of this study was to evaluation of maternal serum corticotropin-releasing factor concentrations and its concentration with onset of labor. The analysis was undertaken of women hospitalized in Research Institute Polish Mother's Memorial Hospital-Clinical of Perinatology (2001-2002) year with pregnancy between 16 to 35 weeks. All pregnancies were singleton gestation free of medical complications but with threatened labor. Maternal peripheral blood samples were obtained from antecubital vein during the first day of hospitalization. The control group consisted of 77 pregnant who delivered term infants whose growth was appropriate for gestational age. The study group consisted of pregnant women who gave preterm delivery. The serum CRF concentrations were measured using EIA method. Maternal serum CRF concentration in control group was 7.28 +/- 1.92 ng/ml. The material was obtained in 26.2 +/- 4.5 week of gestation. CRF concentration in studied group was 6.37 +/- 1.86 ng/ml +/- and the serum was obtained in 24.3 +/- 4.9 ng/ml weeks of gestation. The results were paradoxically significantly higher in control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results were not in agreement with the findings of other investigators.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pieta-Dolińska
authors.forename: Elzbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kowalska
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Woźniak
authors.forename: Przemysław
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Oszukowski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology*; D011044:Poland; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone