Effect of meconium on the detection of phosphatidylglycerol

Phosphatidylglycerol determination has been used as an additional parameter in the evaluation of fetal lung maturity. Meconium was added to aliquot samples of amniotic fluid after phosphatidylglycerol determination. On those amniotic fluid samples without phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol standard and meconium were added. Two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography was performed to detect the phosphatidylglycerol spot. Our results show that lightly stained meconium contamination of amniotic fluid does not hinder the detection of the phosphatidylglycerol spot on the chromatographic plate.