Assessment of vascular endothelial growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, and transforming growth factor...

To measure amniotic fluid levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta2 and to characterize their levels with respect to advancing gestational age and pregnancy-related complications.

Amniotic fluid was collected from a total of 37 patients, 2 of whom had twin pregnancies. Twenty-seven specimens were collected in the second trimester and 10 specimens were collected in the third trimester. VEGF, bFGF and TGF-beta2 were isolated from centrifuged amniotic fluid and quantified using commercially available ELISA kits. Concentrations of growth factors were expressed in pg/mL.

The growth factors under investigation were present in most but not all amniotic fluid specimens throughout pregnancy. The levels of VEGF, bFGF and TGF-beta2 were inconsistent and did not show a statistically significant association with gestational age, number of fetuses, or the presence of hypertension and/or diabetes. One significant finding emerged from the data: smokers had significantly higher amniotic fluid levels of VEGF compared to nonsmokers (p = 0.03).

VEGF, bFGF and TGF-beta2 are detectable in second and third trimester amniotic fluid. Smoking appears to correlate with increased amniotic fluid VEGF during pregnancy. VEGF may represent a molecular marker of hypoxia and is an interesting focus for future investigation.