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. 2020 Oct;40(11):1383-1389.
doi: 10.1002/pd.5755. Epub 2020 Aug 5.

The effect of maternal body mass index and gestational age on circulating trophoblast yield in cell-based noninvasive prenatal testing

Tachjaree Panchalee  1   2 , Liesbeth Vossaert  1 , Qun Wang  1 , Brielle R Crovetti  3 , Anne K McCombs  1 , Ronald J Wapner  4 , Ignatia B Van den Veyver  1   5   6 , Arthur L Beaudet  7
Affiliations

The effect of maternal body mass index and gestational age on circulating trophoblast yield in cell-based noninvasive prenatal testing

Tachjaree Panchalee et al. Prenat Diagn. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: To examine the effects of maternal body mass index (BMI) and gestational age (GA) on the number of single circulating trophoblasts (SCT).

Methods: Maternal blood was collected in 20 to 40 mL. All singleton pregnant women at any gestation were recruited. Trophoblasts were recovered by immunomagnetic enrichment and stained for cytokeratin and CD45. Candidate trophoblasts were identified by fluorescence microscopy.

Results: Blood samples were collected from 425 singleton pregnancies from April 2018 to December 2019. At least one candidate cell was identified in 88% (373/425). There was an inverse correlation between trophoblasts yield and increasing BMI (r = -0.19, P < .001). The mean ± SD number of trophoblasts/mL was 0.12 ± 0.22 in the underweight group (n = 5), 0.23 ± 0.25 in the normal weight (n = 169), 0.18 ± 0.19 in the overweight (n = 114), and 0.13 ± 0.15 in the obese (n = 109). Significantly more cells were identified in the normal weight than those in the obese (P = .001). In addition, the mean ± SD number of cells/mL was 0.21 ± 0.21 at GA of 10 to 14 weeks (n = 260), 0.14 ± 0.23 at GA ≥15 (n = 102) and 0.12 ± 0.12 at GA <10 (n = 63); P < .001.

Conclusion: The lower number of SCT was identified from the samples of women with a high BMI. Cell recovery for SCT testing seems optimal at GA of 10 to 14 weeks, but earlier and later testing is still possible.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement

Baylor Genetics (BG) is a diagnostic laboratory which is partially owned by Baylor College of Medicine. A.L.B. and I.B.V. had or have, respectively, consulting or committee roles at BG. A.L.B. is a founder of Luna Genetics.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:. Trophoblasts cells yield in different maternal body mass index (BMI) groups
This scatter plot shows the distribution of trophoblast cells (cells/mL) in 397 maternal blood samples according to maternal BMI.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Frequency of samples with no cells among maternal body mass index (BMI) groups.
There were 3/5 samples which no enriched cell in underweight group. Only 5.9% of samples with no cells were in the normal weight group; p <0.001.
Figure 3:
Figure 3:. Trophoblasts cells yield in different gestation age (GA) groups.
The scatter plot shows the distribution of trophoblast cells (cells/mL) in 425 maternal blood samples according to gestational age.
Figure 4:
Figure 4:. Frequency of samples with no cells among gestational age (GA) groups
There were 8.8% of samples with no cells at GA 10-14 weeks; p=0.03.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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