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Plasminogen Activator System in Serum and Amniotic Fluid of Euploid and Aneuploid Pregnancies

From the Department of Biomedical Science and Advanced Therapy, Section of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Biology, Section of Evolutionary Biology, and Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Nuclear Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy; and Department of Chemical Endocrinology, University Hospital Nijmegen St Radboud, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Address reprint requests to: Adriano Piffanelli, MD, Department of Clinical & Experimental Medicine, University of Ferrara, Section of Nuclear Medicine, Via L. Borsari, 46, 44100 Ferrara, Italy, E-mail: pif{at}dns.unife.it

Objective: To compare euploid and aneuploid pregnancies with respect to maternal serum and amniotic fluid (AF) levels of the components of the plasminogen system.

Methods: The study population consisted of 123 single pregnancies at the 17th gestational week, 16 with minor chromosomal abnormalities, 15 aneuploid, and 92 euploid.

Results: Both groups with chromosomal abnormalities had significantly higher serum levels of urokinase plasminogen activator and its complexed form with its type-1 inhibitor compared with euploid pregnancies. In AF, tissue plasminogen activator was significantly lower in the aneuploid than the euploid group, whereas type-1 inhibitor of plasminogen activator was significantly higher in the cases with minor chromosomal abnormalities compared with euploid. At cutoff levels set at 100% sensitivity, the complexed form of urokinase plasminogen activator with its type-1 inhibitor had the strongest specificity (66.3%); after logarithmic transformation, its serum level was 7.53 times higher in aneuploidies than euploidies.

Conclusion: Aneuploid pregnancies appear to be accompanied by abnormalities of the plasminogen activation system, which could lead to impaired placental perfusion and thus to abortion, fetal death, and fetal growth restriction.

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				F. Vesce, C. Scapoli, G. Giovannini, L. Tralli, G. Gotti, A. Valerio, and A. Piffanelli Cytokine imbalance in pregnancies with fetal chromosomal abnormalities Hum. Reprod., March 1, 2002; 17(3): 803 - 808. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]