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. 2023 Jun 20;23(1):458.
doi: 10.1186/s12884-023-05776-2.

Cytokine quantification and association with cervical length in a prospective cohort of pregnant women

Helmer Herren  1 , Alessandra C Marcolin  2 , Marco A Barbieri  3 , Heloisa Bettiol  3 , Viviane C Cardoso  3 , Silvana M Quintana  2 , Ricardo C Cavalli  2
Affiliations

Cytokine quantification and association with cervical length in a prospective cohort of pregnant women

Helmer Herren et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

Background: Preterm birth is a leading cause of infant morbidity and mortality; its multifactorial causes are an obstacle to understanding etiology and pathogenesis. The importance of cytokines and inflammation in its etiology and association with the short cervix is nowadays well-proven. To date, there are no reliable biological or biochemical markers to predict preterm birth; even though the length of the cervix has high specificity, its sensitivity with the cervix below 2.5 cm is low.

Objective: We study the association of plasma cytokine levels and cervical length in search of predictors of preterm birth.

Study design: We evaluated a total of 1400 pregnant women carrying a single fetus between 20 and 25 weeks of gestation, and 1370 of them after childbirth in a nested case-control study of a prenatal cohort. Eligible pregnant women were interviewed and submitted to obstetric morphological and transvaginal ultrasound with cervical length measurement, gynecological examination, and blood collection. Preterm birth occurred in 133 women, 129 included in the study, and a control group randomly selected at a 2:1 ratio. A total of 41 cytokines with a higher probability of being associated with preterm birth or being of significance during labor were determined.

Results: Cytokine and cervical length analysis by multivariate analysis of the conditional interference tree revealed that growth-related oncogene values of less than 2293 pg/mL were significantly associated with a cervical length of less than 2.5 cm.

Conclusions: As well as a cervical length shorter than 2.5 cm, growth-related oncogene levels of less than 2293 pg/ml may be associated with an increased risk of PB. Analysis based on the association of biomarkers and of the interaction between cytokines is a promising pathway in search of a predictor of preterm birth.

Keywords: A transvaginal ultrasound; Biomarkers; Cervical length; Chemokines; Inflammatory markers; Prematurity; Preterm anti-inflammatory pathways; Preterm birth; Preterm inflammatory pathways; Short cervix.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of the pregnant women participating in the cohort
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Results of multivariate analysis of the conditional inference tree considering as covariables the cytokines IFN.A2, PDGF.AA, PDFG.BB, IL.1alpha, GRO, and cervical length. Node 1 – Pregnant women classified according to a GRO value ≤ or > 2293 pg/ml, Node 2—Pregnant women with GRO ≤ 2293 pg/ml classified as having a cervical length ≤ or > 2.5 cm, Node 3 – Proportion of case and control pregnant women with GRO ≤ 2293 pg/ml and cervical length ≤ 2.5 cm, Node 4 – Proportion of case and control pregnant women with GRO ≤ 2293 pg/ml and cervical length > 2.5 cm, Node 5—Proportion of case and control pregnant women with GRO > 2293 pg/ml
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Results of multivariate analysis of the conditional inference tree considering as covariables all the cytokines understudy plus cervical length. Node 1 – Pregnant women classified according to a GRO value ≤ or > 2293 pg/ml, Node 2—Pregnant women with GRO ≤ 2293 pg/ml with a cervical length ≤ or > 2.5 cm, Node 3 – Proportion of case and control pregnant women with GRO ≤ 2293 pg/ml and cervical length ≤ 2.5 cm, Node 4 – Proportion of case and control pregnant women with GRO ≤ 2293 pg/ml and cervical length > 2.5 cm, Node 5—Proportion of case and control pregnant women with GRO > 2293 pg/ml
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