Circulatory Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone mRNA Concentrations Are Increased in Women with Preterm Delivery But Not in Those Who Respond to Tocolytic Treatment

Abstract

Several studies using quantitative real-time PCR to measure fetal DNA and mRNA in maternal plasma have suggested that their concentrations could indicate the presence of certain pregnancy-related disorders or predispositions to them (1). Significant increases in the median concentration of cell-free fetal DNA have been reported in pregnancies bearing aneuploid fetuses (2)(3), in those affected by or at risk for preeclampsia (4)(5)(6)(7)(8), or those with preterm labor (9). Fetally derived corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA is reportedly increased in pregnancies with manifest preeclampsia (10), and human chorionic gonadotropin β-subunit mRNA has been reported to be increased in pregnancies with aneuploid fetuses (11). In this study, we measured CRH mRNA by a real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR assay (10)(12) in women with preterm labor. Preterm delivery remains a leading cause of perinatal mortality, has an unchanged incidence of almost 7% over the past decade (13)(14), and has no known etiology. No test can identify those pregnant women with preterm …