Threatened preterm labour - analysis of the cytokine profile and progesterone treatment efficiency

Abstract

Objective: Preterm labour is defined as the onset of labour between weeks 23 and before 37 of gestation. The purpose of this study was to compare the cytokine profile in the blood serum of patients experiencing threatened premature labour, along with the time of delivery and the foetus body mass at birth.

Methods: The study included 89 women hospitalised at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinical Hospital in the period 2011-2013. Group 1 comprised 31 patients diagnosed with threatened preterm labour, prior to tocolytic treatment. Group 2 comprised 32 patients with tocolytic treatment. Group 3 constituted the control group.

Results: Groups 1, 2 and 3 differed considerably in terms of the week of delivery of pregnancy (p = 0.006). Analogous results were obtained by analysing the body mass at birth, where a statistically significant difference in body mass at birth was found between Groups 1, 2 and 3 (p < 0.001). Our analysis focussed on the cytokine profile of the women included in the study, but no considerable changes in cytokine concentration were observed.

Conclusions: No statistically significant differences were found in the cytokine profile among those patients in normally progressing pregnancy or in threatened preterm labour. No suitability of progesterone treatment in threatened preterm labour was observed.

Keywords: Delivery; infections; neonatology; physiology of reproduction; prenatal care.