Assessment of maternal serum sialic acid levels in preterm versus term labor: a prospective-controlled clinical study
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Published on: December 5, 2015
Mete Gurol Ugur1, Naciye Kurtul, Ozcan Balat
1Tip Fakultesi, Kadin Hastaliklari ve Dogum Anabilim Dali, Sahinbey Uygulama ve Arastirma Hastanesi, Gaziantep University, Sahinbey, Gaziantep, Turkey. metegurolugur@hotmail.com
Purpose:
To compare total serum sialic acid (SA) levels between singleton pregnant women diagnosed with preterm labor between 24th and 36th weeks of pregnancy, singleton pregnant women at term, and their gestational age-matched controls.
Methods:
Thirty pregnants diagnosed with preterm labor (group I), 30 gestational age-matched control pregnants (group II), 30 pregnants with labor at term (group III), and 30 gestational age-matched control pregnants (group IV) were enrolled. Detailed history, demographic data (age, gravidity, parity, abortion), ultrasound parameters, cervical dilatation and effacement, fetal tococardiography, routine laboratory tests, and total SA levels were assessed.
Results:
There was no statistically significant difference between the parameters other than SA. SA levels of the preterm labor group (group I) were significantly higher than the other three groups.
Conclusions:
We may suggest that pathways including SA or molecules containing SA in subclinical infection without the clinical manifestations of apparent infection may be involved in the pathogenesis of preterm birth. Future longitudinal studies are needed to investigate prediction performance and to better understand the role of SA in molecular mechanisms leading to preterm labor.
