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Serum PAPP-A levels are depressed in women with fetal Down syndrome in early pregnancy |
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| Authors: | F Muller H Cuckle B Teisner J G Grudzinskas |
| Institution: | 1. Laboratoire de Biochimie, Assistance Hǒpitaux Publique de Paris, 92104 Boulogne Cedex, France;2. Institute of Epidemiology and Health Services Research, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, U.K.;3. Division of Immunology, State Seruminstitute, Copenhagen, Denmark;4. Academic Unit of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Royal London Hospital Medical College, London, U.K. |
| Abstract: | The value of maternal serum pregnancy-associated plasma protein (PAPP)-A in screening for Down syndrome in early pregnancy was assessed using stored samples. Seventeen cases of Down syndrome and 66 unaffected control pregnancies were studied. The median PAPP-A level in the cases was 0.42 multiples of the expected value in controls (p <0.0001). Eleven cases (65 per cent) had levels less than half the expected value compared with only six controls (9 per cent). A commercial assay kit is now needed so that prospective screening with this marker can begin. |
| Keywords: | Down syndrome Early pregnancy Pregnancy-associated plasma protein A Screening Maternal serum |