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Updated: Oct 4, 2026
Isolation of Leukocytes from the Murine Tissues at the Maternal-Fetal Interface
Published on: May 21, 2015
The application of magnetic cell sorter (MACS) to detect fetal cells in maternal peripheral blood
A Fukushima1, Y Utsugisawa, Y Wada
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Iwate Medical University, Morioka, Japan.
Objectives:
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of sorting fetal nucleated red blood cells (FNRBC) from maternal peripheral blood, particularly during early gestation periods, by a combination of specific gravity centrifugation and magnetic cell sorter (MACS).
Methods:
Without prior knowledge of the gender of the fetus, we determined gender by analyzing a Y-chromosome specific sequence by nested-PCR, using 10 ml of the peripheral blood of healthy primigravida women at different stages of gestation (first trimester: n = 17, second trimester: n = 13, and third trimester: n = 19). The results of this prenatal sex determination were compared to the sex of newborns.
Results:
The specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of the present method during the first trimester were 100, 81.8, 100, and 75%, respectively; during the second trimester, 80, 50, 80, and 50%, respectively; and during the third trimester, 25, 63.6, 53.8, and 33.3%, respectively.
Conclusion:
The results show that this prenatal sex determination method has a highly accurate diagnostic rate during the first trimester, suggesting that it could be developed as a practical, non-invasive prenatal diagnostic technique for use during early gestation periods.
