title: Cell-free DNA levels in pregnancies at risk of sickle-cell disease and significant ethnic variation.
abstract: Cell-free (cf) DNA in maternal circulation is increasingly investigated in pregnancy. This study aimed to determine whether sickle-cell trait women had quantitative differences of cf-DNA to controls and if there was an ethnic difference between the cf-DNA levels of Northern European and African/African-Caribbean populations. Non-invasive prenatal diagnosis, through quantification of fetal and total cf-DNA, was tested in 33 pregnant women at risk of carrying a fetus affected with sickle-cell disease and 124 control pregnancies. A significant variation in cf-DNA was found between ethnic groups, which should be taken into consideration in future studies measuring cf-DNA.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gene and Cell Based Therapy, King's College London School of Medicine, King's College Hospital, London, UK. ageliki.gerovassili@kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Ageliki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gerovassili
authors.forename: Kypros H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Nicolaides
authors.forename: Swee Lay
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Thein
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Rees
mesh_terms: D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics*; D044383:Black People; D017691:Caribbean Region / Q000208:ethnology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y; D004247:DNA / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods; D012805:Sickle Cell Trait; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D004247:DNA