OBJECTIVE To examine vaginal insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 (IGFBP-1) as a marker of preterm delivery, amniotic fluid leakage or vaginal infection. MATERIALS AND METHODS The material consisted of a nested case-control study (67 with idiopathic preterm delivery and 406 randomly selected women with term deliveries) from a prospective cohort of 2,846 women. RESULTS Vaginal npIGFB...

BACKGROUND Proteomic analysis of amniotic fluid shows the presence of biomarkers characteristic of intrauterine inflammation. We sought to validate prospectively the clinical utility of one such proteomic profile, the Mass Restricted (MR) score. METHODS AND FINDINGS We enrolled 169 consecutive women with singleton pregnancies admitted with preterm labor or preterm premature rupture of membran...

Chorioamnionitis is associated with preterm delivery and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), characterized by impaired alveolar and pulmonary vascular development and vascular dysfunction. To study the vascular effects in a model of chorioamnionitis, preterm lambs were exposed to 20 mg of intra-amniotic endotoxin or saline for 1, 2, 4, or 7 days and delivered at 122 days gestational age (term = 1...

conclusions there is no statistically significant relationship between preterm delivery and type of sludge. results the prevalence of preterm delivery was 14/3%. the frequencies of term delivery in mothers with dense, light and no sludge were 78/6%, 82/1% and 96/4 % respectively, and for preterm delivery they were 21/4%, 17/9% and 3/6% respectively. but there was no statistically significant re...

background: amniotic fluid is an indicator of placental function on the fetal development. the amniotic fluid index is the most commonly used method of measuring amniotic fluid. objective: the purpose of this study was to compare the pregnancy outcomes of a borderline versus normal afi. materials and methods: this cross-sectional study was carried out on a total of 235 pregnant women referred t...

The aims of this study were to determine whether sonographically measured cervical length is of value in the identification of microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity in women with preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) and to compare its performance with maternal blood C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell count (WBC), and amniotic fluid (AF) WBC. This prospective observational ...

OBJECTIVE Examination of the amniotic fluid proteome has been used to identify biomarkers for intra-amniotic inflammation as well as those that may be useful in predicting the outcome of preterm labor. The purpose of this study was to combine a novel computational method of pattern discovery with mass spectrometric proteomic profiling of amniotic fluid to discover biomarkers of intra-amniotic i...

PROBLEM Inflammation and infection play a major role in preterm birth. The purpose of this study was to (i) determine the prevalence and clinical significance of sterile intra-amniotic inflammation and (ii) examine the relationship between amniotic fluid (AF) concentrations of high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) and the interval from amniocentesis to delivery in patients with sterile intra-amniot...

introduction: preterm birth is still a major health problem throughout the world, which results in 75% of neonatal mortality. preterm labor not only inflicts financial and emotional distress, it may also lead to permanent disability. the present study was conducted to determine the related risk factors and preventive measures of preterm labor. methods: this retrospective cross-sectional study a...