PLACENTAL ISOFERRITIN PATTERNS DURING NORMAL FIRST TRIMESTER AND TUBAL GESTATIONS

Placental isoferritin (PLF) has been shown to be involved in the down- regulation of the maternal immune system during pregnancy, In a prospe ctive study, serum PLF concentrations were measured in 33 pregnant wom en with singleton, normal, ongoing first trimester gestations and comp ared with those of 22 women with tubal gestations, Diagnoses were base d on endocrinological, sonographic, intra-operative and histopathologi cal criteria. Venous blood was obtained from both groups for PLF deter mination before evacuation of the pregnancy products, beta-Human chori onic gonadotrophin (HCG), 17 beta-oestradiol and progesterone were det ermined at surgery for the tubal pregnancy patients. The mean +/- SD P LF concentrations were 18 +/- 14, 25.4 +/- 42.3 IU/ml among normal and tubal gestations respectively, Significant differences between normal and tubal pregnancies were found (P < 0.05), Based on PLF measurement s, sensitivity (67%) and specificity (33%) values were found to be sim ilar for the normal and ectopic pregnancies, No correlation was found between the other measured pregnancy hormones and PLF for the tubal pr egnancy group, Low PLF concentrations among pathological gestations ma y reflect abnormal trophoblastic activity, The simultaneous assessment of PLF and beta-HCG concentrations which probably originate from diff erent trophoblastic cells, is recommended for better diagnosis and mon itoring of first trimester placental activity.