title: Prohepcidin in maternal circulation: is it related to spontaneous preterm labor?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether spontaneous preterm labor (PTL) with intact membranes is associated with changes in maternal serum prohepcidin concentrations.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study consisted of patients with spontaneous PTL with intact membranes (n = 25), a control group of healthy pregnant women between the 24th and 37th gestational weeks (n = 22), and uncomplicated term pregnancies in spontaneous labor (n = 19). Blood samples were collected from patients at the time of clinical diagnosis. Levels of prohepcidin, hemoglobin, serum ferritin, serum iron, unsaturated iron binding capacity, total iron binding capacity, transferrin and transferrin saturation, C reactive protein, and interleukin-6 were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with spontaneous PTL had significantly lower maternal serum prohepcidin concentrations than term delivery and control subjects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Maternal serum prohepcidin concentration is lower in patients with spontaneous PTL compared to term delivery and control subjects. This suggests that measuring maternal serum prohepcidin concentrations in PTL may be a feasible method for understanding etiologic causes of spontaneous preterm delivery, but, before suggesting this as a course of action, low levels of prohepcidin in patients with PTL need to be more fully investigated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Turgut Özal University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yüksel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Onaran
authors.forename: Esra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aktepe Keskin
authors.forename: Zehra Candan
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Iltemir Duvan
authors.forename: Serap Aynur
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Simavli
authors.forename: Cemile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Koca
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kafali
authors.forename: Nilgün
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Turhan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D064451:Hepcidins / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D033862:Iron-Binding Proteins / Q000097:blood; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D064451:Hepcidins; D033862:Iron-Binding Proteins