title: S100B maternal blood levels are gestational age- and gender-dependent in healthy pregnancies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  S100B is a well-established biomarker of central nervous system (CNS) development and damage in the perinatal period. Because the fetal CNS induces an overproduction of S100B measurable in the maternal bloodstream we evaluated S100B protein in healthy pregnancies in order to provide a reference curve of the protein in the second and third trimesters and to provide information on CNS development when standard monitoring procedures could be silent or unavailable.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between July 2012 and December 2014 we conducted a prospective study in 1213 healthy pregnancies delivering healthy newborns. Maternal blood samples were collected for standard monitoring procedures and S100B assessment. S100B correlations with selected outcomes (gestational age at sampling, gender of fetus, gestational age and weight at birth, delivery mode) were calculated using multiple forward stepwise regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  S100B concentrations in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy were found to be gestational age-, gender- and delivery mode-dependent (p<0.05, for all). Multiple forward stepwise regression analysis with S100B as the dependent variable and gestational age at sampling, gender, delivery mode, gestational age and weight at birth as independent variables, showed a significant correlation between S100B and gestational age at sampling (R=0.13; p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present findings offering a S100B protein reference curve in maternal blood suggest that non-invasive fetal CNS monitoring is becoming feasible and open the way to further research in neuro-biomarker assessment in the maternal bloodstream.
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Laura D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Serpero
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Vincenza
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pluchinotta
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Conforti
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Ekaterina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baryshnikova
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guaschino
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cassinari
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Oria
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Trifoglio
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Maria Grazia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Calevo
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gazzolo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001724:Birth Weight; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D008297:Male; D018743:Perinatal Care; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D064568:S100 Calcium Binding Protein beta Subunit / Q000097:blood*; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D064568:S100 Calcium Binding Protein beta Subunit
keywords: S100B; biomarker; brain development; fetus; newborn; pregnancy