engleski

The influence of fetal sex, smoking and parity on AFP and free β -hCG concentrations in amniotic fluid of unaffected second-trimester pregnancies

The aim is to investigate the influence of smoking, parity and fetal sex on AFP and free &#946; -hCG in amniotic fluid and to inquire into a correlation between maternal serum and amniotic fluid marker concentrations. The study was performed on 233 second-trimester amniotic fluid samples. In 75 women, blood sample was taken immediately before amniocentesis. All pregnancies were singleton with normal fetal karyotype and outcome. Concentrations of AFP and free &#946; -hCG were determined by fluoroimmunoassay and converted to MoMs, according to medians for unaffected pregnancies of the corresponding gestational age. In smoking women, amniotic fluid free &#946; -hCG was significantly lower than in non-smoking ones (p=0.033), though AFP was not significantly different in regard to smoking habits (p=0.113). Significantly higher amniotic fluid free &#946; -hCG (p<0.001) and lower AFP (p=0.015) were found in female, in comparison to male pregnancies. No significant change according to parity, neither for free &#946; -hCG, nor for AFP was observed (p=0.094 and p=0.376, respectively). Significant correlation for AFP and free &#946; -hCG was found between serum and amniotic fluid samples (r=0.61, p<0.001 and r=0.35, p<0.002, respectively). Conclusions: Our results confirmed the influence of fetal sex on amniotic fluid AFP and free &#946; -hCG and negative influence of smoking on free &#946; -hCG as well as on maternal serum AFP and free &#946; -hCG concentrations. More data should be available to determine the impact of parity on examined amniotic fluid markers.

amniotic fluid; alpha-fetoprotein; free &#946; -hCG; fetal sex; parity; smoking

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