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Obstetrics & Gynecology 2003;101:557-564
© 2003 by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Maternal Serum Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone at Midgestation in Hispanic and White Women

T. M. Siler-Khodr, PhD, G. Forthman, C. Khodr, S. Matyszczyk, Z. Khodr and G. Khodr, MD

From the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; and Southwest Genetics, P.A., San Antonio, Texas.

Address reprint requests to: Gabriel S. Khodr, MD, Southwest Genetics, P.A., 7711 Louis Pasteur, Suite 509, San Antonio, TX 78229; E-mail: swgene1{at}aol.com.

OBJECTIVE: Maternal circulating corticotropin-releasing hormone analysis at midgestation has been proposed as a parameter for the prediction of preterm birth. However, one recent study has reported that corticotropin-releasing hormone concentrations at midgestation differ in the black and white populations. These findings led us to investigate whether other populations have differing concentrations of maternal circulating corticotropin-releasing hormone that may require reference to specific population-based medians for optimal midgestational screening.

METHODS: In this study we have defined the mean and median concentrations of maternal circulating corticotropin-releasing hormone in Hispanic and white populations at each gestational week from 14 to 18 weeks of pregnancy, using a sensitive and specific radioimmunoassay.

RESULTS: Corticotropin-releasing hormone concentrations were found to be significantly lower in the Hispanic population as compared with whites at 16, 17, and 18 weeks’ gestation. The distribution of corticotropin-releasing hormone, expressed as multiples of the median (MoM) using the appropriate ethnicity-related median, was estimated for each gestational week and for each population. No differences were observed in the distribution of the ethnicity-adjusted MoM for Hispanics and whites.

CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate that ethnicity is a significant factor affecting corticotropin-releasing hormone concentrations at midgestation in the Hispanic and white populations. The use of ethnicity-specific medians to estimate the ethnicity-specific MoM for the corticotropin-releasing hormone concentrations may enhance the predictive value of midgestational maternal corticotropin-releasing hormone as a screening parameter for the prediction of preterm birth.




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R. Menon, C. P. Arora, C. J. Hobel, and S. J. Fortunato
Corticotrophin-Releasing Hormone in Lipopolysaccharide-Stimulated Term Fetal Membranes and Amniotic Fluid From Term and Preterm Birth in African Americans and Caucasians
Reproductive Sciences, May 1, 2008; 15(5): 477 - 483.
[Abstract] [PDF]


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Copyright © 2003 by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.