Anti-β₂-glycoprotein I antibody maybe a novel biomarker of spontaneous preterm birth

Spontaneous preterm birth is challenging to prevent. Only few predictors of spontaneous preterm birth risk have been reported, and further studies on spontaneous preterm birth should be conducted to reduce the number of cases.

The aim of the present study was to explore if anti-β₂-glycoprotein I antibody can be used to predict the risk of spontaneous preterm birth, and its clinical value in assessing the risk of spontaneous preterm birth.

A total of 302 pregnant women who had delivered between January 2019 and December 2021 were enrolled into the study. The subjects were assigned to the case group (28-33⁺⁶ weeks, n = 41; 34-36⁺⁶ weeks, n = 96) and control group (37-42 weeks, n = 165) according to the gestational period. The age, body mass index, and gestational days of the two groups were recorded. Blood samples were collected and the levels of anti-β₂-glycoprotein I antibody, white blood cell, red blood cell, hemoglobin, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, urea, creatinine, glucose, triglyceride, and total cholesterol were evaluated. Pregnant women diagnosed with sPTB that met the standards after evaluation by the clinician were included in the study.

The level of anti-β₂-glycoprotein I antibody was higher in case group than in the control group [(23.93 ± 8.11)Ru/mL vs (11.50 ± 5.33)Ru/mL]. The results showed that anti-β₂-glycoprotein I antibody was an independent risk factor for spontaneous preterm birth. The area under ROC curve of anti-β₂-glycoprotein I antibody to predict spontaneous preterm birth was 0.8875 (95%CI 0.8443-0.9307). The highest predicted value of anti-β₂-glycoprotein I antibody was 16.49Ru/ml.

Anti-β₂-glycoprotein I antibody has a high clinical significance and can be used by clinicians to evaluate the probability of spontaneous preterm birth.