title: Comparison of maternal and cord blood nucleated red blood cell count between pre-eclamptic and healthy women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of pre-eclampsia on the cord and maternal nucleated red blood cell (NRBC) count.
  
  
  METHODS
  Immediately after delivery, 1 mL of maternal venous blood and 1 mL of cord blood from 50 pre-eclamptic and 150 healthy pregnant women were collected separately in tubes containing 1.5 mg ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid. Blood smears were prepared and stained using the Giemsa method. The number of NRBC per 100 leukocytes in maternal and cord blood was counted and compared between the two groups using SPSS software package for Windows. Any correlation of the NRBC count in maternal and umbilical cord blood was also evaluated. P-values < 0.05 were considered significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean (+/-SD) NRBC per 100 white blood cell (WBC) level in cord blood of newborns in the pre-eclamptic group (18.2 +/- 31.8, range 0-142) was significantly greater than in the control group (6.2 +/- 8.1, range 0-36). Low birth weight and intrauterine growth restriction showed a statistically significant relationship with abnormal NRBC count in pre-eclamptic patients. A significant correlation was found between the maternal and cord blood NRBC count in the pre-eclamptic group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fetal response to utero-placental insufficiency in pre-eclampsia leads to elevated NRBC in the cord blood, particularly in the presence of low birth weight and intrauterine growth restriction. The positive correlation between maternal and cord blood NRBC counts in pre-eclamptic patients indicates that maybe the hypoperfused placenta plays a role in the correlated alteration of the maternal and fetal NRBC count.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Physiology Research Center, Kerman, Iran. shahnaz_aali@excite.com
authors.forename: Bibi Shahnaz
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Aali
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Malekpour
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sedig
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Safa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004900:Erythroblasts; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy