Every year around 15 million premature babies are born worldwide before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Of these, as many as a million die. Scientists have found a way to detect a threat that is expected to reduce the scale of the problem. Will a new study for pregnant women save thousands of babies?
Worldwide, approximately 15 million premature babies are born each year before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Of these, as many as a million die. In Poland, there is a higher percentage of premature births than in other European Union countries. Scientists have developed a method to reduce the scale of the problem.
Thanks to the biomarkers present in the blood of a pregnant woman, it is possible to predict whether a child will be born prematurely, says Science.
Until now, there have been no methods which would make it possible to precisely determine whether a child will be born on time or prematurely.
The research was conducted by Dr. Stephen Quake’s team from the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at Stanford University in collaboration with colleagues from other centers. They concerned blood cfRNA transcripts and were carried out on two separate cohorts of pregnant women: with an increased risk of preterm labor and healthy women. Preterm labor could be predicted up to two months before its onset.
In addition, the examination of the mother, child and placenta cfRNA made it possible to assess the age of pregnancy and the date of delivery as accurately as ultrasound – but probably cheaper.
The authors of the study compare the new diagnostic method to eavesdropping on the biochemical “conversation” between mother, placenta and baby. In this way, the activity of genes determining the course of pregnancy can be tested and any possible disturbances in it can be detected.
It is possible that specific genes and pathways related to the causes of preterm labor can be identified, as well as potential therapies developed. The researchers said both tests will need to be assessed in a larger, blinded clinical trial.
Premature babies are babies born before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Every year around 15 million babies are born prematurely in the world. Health problems are more common. Recent decades have seen significant improvements in the care of premature babies, but prematurity is also becoming more common. Prematurity is one of the leading causes of infant death in Western countries.