Elsevier

Obstetrics & Gynecology

Volume 96, Issue 4, October 2000, Pages 588-592
Obstetrics & Gynecology

Alpha-fetoprotein and hematopoietic growth factors in amniotic fluid

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0029-7844(00)00975-3Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether a relationship exists between alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and hematopoietic growth factors in amniotic fluid.

Methods: Forty-one women at 15 weeks’ gestation were included in the study. Gestational age was assessed by obtaining a reliable menstrual history and scanning. Amniocentesis was performed, and each woman subsequently delivered anatomically and chromosomally normal infants. The level of AFP was determined using a standard automated procedure. The concentrations of stem cell factor, interleukin 3, interleukin 6, erythropoietin, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) were measured using a commercially available immunoassay. The relationships between AFP and the studied cytokines were evaluated using the Pearson linear correlation test. Significant correlations were studied further by linear and nonlinear regression to obtain the best predictive model.

Results: There was a significant correlation between AFP and stem cell factor (r = .47, P = .002). No significant correlations between AFP and the rest of the studied cytokines were found (r = −.07, r = .02, r = −.02, and r = −.11 for erythropoietin, G-CSF, interleukin 3, and interleukin 6, respectively).

Conclusion: Alpha-fetoprotein is significantly correlated with stem cell factor in early pregnancy and might play a role in fetal hematopoiesis.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

Between October 1998 and February 1999, 41 pregnant women were enrolled in the study. Demographics are shown in Table 1. All were consecutive patients undergoing genetic amniocentesis in our antenatal clinics at 15 weeks’ gestation for reasons of advanced maternal age (more than 35 years) (38 cases) or previous delivery of an infant with chromosomal abnormalities (three cases). Gestational age was assessed by obtaining a reliable menstrual history and scanning. However, all women had regular

Results

Table 2 shows the mean, standard deviation, median, interquartile range, and range of each studied variable. Some variables (interleukin 3, interleukin 6, and G-CSF) had a nonnormal distribution, and log-transformed values were used. The level of AFP in AF had a significant correlation (Table 2) with stem cell factor (r = .47, P = .002) (Figure 1). No significant correlations between AFP and the rest of the studied cytokines were found (r = −.07, r = .02, r = −.02, and r = −.11 for

Discussion

It is suspected that the physiologic role of AFP is to modulate various growth-regulatory pathways during fetal development.8 However, the exact biologic role of this abundant protein in fetal life is still unclear.

In a previous study, we found a significant correlation between maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP) and fetal hemoglobin obtained both by prenatal cordocentesis and during elective cesarean delivery before labor.6 In a second part of that study, we also found a significant

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    This work was supported by a grant from the Asociación para la Promoción de la Investigación en Ginecologı́a y Obstetricia.

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