Assessment of the female fetal DNA concentration in the plasma of the pregnant women as preeclampsia indicator--preliminary report.
OBJECTIVE
This research was designed to analyze the presence of fetal female DNA, expressed in copy number, in the plasma of the pregnant woman with preeclampsia-complicated pregnancy.


METHODS
Twenty-four pregnant women with female fetuses identified by means of ultrasound scanning were enrolled in this pilot study. The study group consisted of 12 pregnant women with symptoms of preeclampsia, with 12 healthy women, matched for gestational age, as controls.


RESULTS
Mean DNA number of genomic equivalents per reaction in the group was 201 geq/PCR (from 44.9 to 375) and increased over time after onset of PE, which was the reason for pregnancy termination. In the group of women with preeclampsia, a notably higher DNA copy number in comparison to the control group was noted (p=0.0003 U Mann-Whitney test).


CONCLUSIONS
The pilot study presented in this work confirms that also in the case of preeclampsia-complicated pregnancy with female fetuses it is possible to implement the method of fetal DNA quantification. Use of the presented methods confirms that in severe preeclampsia-complicated pregnancies an increase of the number of DNA genomic equivalents per reaction in comparison to the control group is observed. Due to the small study group further research on the described issue is vital, but this study proves that it is also feasible among women carrying female fetuses.
Karina
Engel
E
Department of Feto-Maternal Medicine, Pomeranian Medical University, 1 Unii Lubelskiej Street, 71-252 Szczecin, Poland.
Tomasz
Płonka
P
Bilar
Marek
M
Agnieszka
Orzińska
O
Ewa
Brojer
B
Elzbieta
Ronin-Walkowska
RW
D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004247:DNA / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012727:Sex Characteristics
D015415:Biomarkers; D004247:DNA