Maternal serum placental growth hormone and insulinlike growth factor binding proteins 1 and 3 in pregnancies affected by fetal aneuploidy and other abnormalities: implications for prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 21

Abstract

In the present study, we determined circulating serum levels of human placental growth hormone (hPGH) and insulinlike growth factor binding proteins 1 and 3 (IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-3) using two-site radioimmunoassays during the gestational midtrimester of pregnancies affected by chromosomal disorders with the aim of identifying potential marker substances that might have a significant discriminative and predictive value for prenatal diagnosis of fetal chromosomal aberrations and of organ malformations such as neural-tube defect. Our results show that the maternal serum levels of hPGH were significantly elevated in pregnancies affected by chromosomal anomalies or organ malformations as compared with controls. The distribution of IGFBP-1 concentrations for all experimental groups except trisomy 21 were closely similar to the normal population. IGFBP-3 decreased slightly in pregnancies affected by Down syndrome. These findings suggest that hPGH may be useful as an additional marker in prenatal screening for Down syndrome.