Predictive effect of thiol/disulfide homeostasis dynamics on early pregnancy viability: A case-control study

The main aim of this study was to investigate the differences in maternal serum thiol/disulfide homeostasis among women with abortion imminens (AI), missed abortion (MA), and healthy pregnancies during the first trimester.

This was a prospective case-control study. This study was conducted on pregnant women who visited the Obstetrics Clinic at University of Health Sciences Turkey, Etlik Zübeyde Hanım Gynecology Training and Research Hospital and were diagnosed with either AI or MA during the 6^th to 14^th weeks of pregnancy. The participants had a normal pregnancy follow-up, no chronic illnesses, and did not take any multivitamin or antioxidant supplements except for folic acid. The study incorporated 33 pregnant women with AI, 36 with MA, and 40 with normal pregnancies. Age, and body mass index were matched across the three groups. This study used a recently developed automated spectrophotometric technique to quantify thiol/disulfide concentrations.

The AI group had considerably elevated levels of total thiol and native thiol (SH) compared with the MA group. Nevertheless, there was no notable disparity observed between the group of healthy pregnancies and the other two groups. Serum disulfide (SS) levels did not exhibit any significant variations among the three groups. Similarly, the ratios of SS/SH, SS/total thiol, and SH/total thiol did not show any significant differences between the groups (p>0.05).

Patients with MA had decreased levels of total thiol and SH, which possess antioxidant capabilities, compared to the AI group. A decrease in antioxidant levels in the body may contribute to the etiology of MA. When considering our findings alongside existing literature, it remains inconclusive whether the serum thiol-disulfide ratio can predict a healthy pregnancy or MA following AI. Therefore, it is not yet seen as a promising diagnostic tool for assessing pregnancy viability. Additional investigation is required to establish the influence of dynamic thiol/disulfide homeostasis on early pregnancy loss.