TY - JOUR
TI - Maternal and fetal circulating sKL and ET-1 levels as function of normal labor at term
AU - Pappa, K.I.
AU - Anagnou, N.P.
AU - Daskalakis, G.
AU - Ioannides, I.
AU - Angelidou, K.
AU - Antsaklis, A.
JO - Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine
PY - 2011
VL - 24
TODO - 2
SP - 324-329
PB - 
SN - 1476-7058, 1476-4954
TODO - 10.3109/14767058.2010.496502
TODO - endothelin 1;  stem cell factor, adult;  article;  cesarean section;  controlled study;  cytokine production;  enzyme linked immunosorbent assay;  female;  fetus;  fetus circulation;  human;  human experiment;  labor onset;  maternal plasma;  mother fetus relationship;  newborn period;  pleiotropy;  priority journal;  protein blood level;  protein function;  third trimester pregnancy;  umbilical cord blood flow;  vaginal delivery, Adult;  Case-Control Studies;  Endothelin-1;  Female;  Fetal Blood;  Fetus;  Health;  Humans;  Labor, Obstetric;  Mothers;  Placental Circulation;  Pregnancy;  Solubility;  Stem Cell Factor;  Term Birth;  Young Adult
TODO - Objectives. To determine whether labor is associated with alterations of the levels of soluble c-kit ligand (sKL) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) in maternal plasma and umbilical cord blood. Methods. The sKL and ET-1 levels were investigated in umbilical cord and maternal plasma on the day of delivery in 18 pregnant women with vaginal delivery during labor, 18 non-pregnant women and 9 pregnant women before cesarean delivery, using an ELISA assay. Results. Umbilical cord plasma sKL levels were significantly higher than the maternal plasma in both types of delivery (p=0.0001, p<0.0001, respectively). However, maternal plasma ET-1 levels in the presence of labor were significantly higher than the cesarean delivery group (p<0.0001). No difference was noted for sKL and ET-1 in umbilical cord vessels of both groups. Furthermore, a highly significant inverse correlation was documented between the individual levels of cord plasma ET-1 and the levels of cord plasma sKL (r=-0.6269, p=0.0054). Conclusions. The sKL levels found in umbilical cord plasma are consistent with the pleiotropic effects of sKL in facilitating the transition of the fetus to the neonatal stage. The reduced ET-1 maternal plasma levels, compared to non-pregnant women, probably are indicative of a putative mechanism for embryo protection from vasoconstriction sequelae. This assumption is strengthened by the corresponding ET-1 levels in umbilical cord plasma. © 2011 Informa UK, Ltd.
ER -