title: Activity of adenosine deaminase in mothers who have conceived a fetus with central nervous system malformations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To establish the adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity in women who had been pregnant with a child suffering from central nervous system (CNS) anomaly.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study group comprised 68 women who had been pregnant with an affected child, and 68 controls matched for age, gestational age and body mass index. Maternal venous blood was collected for measurement of ADA levels. We defined the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and area under receiver-operating characteristic curve for ADA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Plasma ADA activity was significantly higher in the study group (12.3 U/L, range 1.7-33.3) compared to the median value of 3.3 U/L (range 1.1-34.4) in normal pregnancies (P<0.05). The cut-off point of ADA >5.9 U/L was associated with the highest combination of specificity (58.8%) and sensitivity (86.8%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ADA activity in women who have conceived a fetus with CNS malformations was significantly higher than that in normal pregnant women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Inonu University, Malatya, Turkey. ustunyaprak@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Yaprak
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Engin-Ustün
authors.forename: Yusuf
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ustün
authors.forename: Bülent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sezgin
authors.forename: Aysun Bay
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Karabulut
authors.forename: Tuba Raika
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Kiran
authors.forename: Ayşe
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kafkasli
mesh_terms: D000243:Adenosine Deaminase / Q000097:blood*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D009421:Nervous System Malformations / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D012372:ROC Curve
chemical_list: D000243:Adenosine Deaminase