Assessment of the female fetal DNA concentration in the plasma of the pregnant women as preeclampsia indicator—Preliminary report

Abstract 

Objectives

This research was designed to analyze the presence of fetal female DNA, expressed in copy number, in the plasma of the pregnant woman with preeclampsia-complicated pregnancy.

Study design

Twenty-four pregnant women with female fetuses identified by means of ultrasound scanning were enrolled in this pilot study. The study group consisted of 12 pregnant women with symptoms of preeclampsia, with 12 healthy women, matched for gestational age, as controls.

Results

Mean DNA number of genomic equivalents per reaction in the group was 201geq/PCR (from 44.9 to 375) and increased over time after onset of PE, which was the reason for pregnancy termination. In the group of women with preeclampsia, a notably higher DNA copy number in comparison to the control group was noted (p=0.0003 U Mann–Whitney test).

Conclusions

The pilot study presented in this work confirms that also in the case of preeclampsia-complicated pregnancy with female fetuses it is possible to implement the method of fetal DNA quantification. Use of the presented methods confirms that in severe preeclampsia-complicated pregnancies an increase of the number of DNA genomic equivalents per reaction in comparison to the control group is observed. Due to the small study group further research on the described issue is vital, but this study proves that it is also feasible among women carrying female fetuses.

Keywords: Fetal DNA, Preeclampsia, Female fetuses