COMPARISON OF PLACENTAL ISOFERRITIN LEVELS IN MATERNAL SERUM AND CELOMIC AND AMNIOTIC FLUIDS DURING FIRST-TRIMESTER HUMAN GESTATION

Placental isoferritin (PLF) is present in serum at high concentrations throughout normal gestation. The current study compared PLF concentra tions in first trimester maternal serum with those of amniotic and coe lomic fluids in 25 healthy, pregnant women. Use of a specific enzyme-l inked immunosorbent assay indicated concentrations high (22 +/- 3 U/ml ) in maternal serum, whereas significantly lower values were detected in both coelomic and amniotic fluids (5 +/- 2 and 3 +/- 2 U/ml, respec tively, P < 0.005). It was further demonstrated that when pure PLF was added to amniotic and coelomic fluids, the PLF levels remained low in each compartment, suggesting that bioproducts produced inside the ges tational sac may interfere with the PLF immunoassay.