Amniotic fluid interleukin - 6 [il-6] determination: a possible guide for management and prognosis of preterm labour

Amniotic fluid samples were collected from four carefully selected groups of pregnant women, respectively, presented as followed [but none with any evidence of intrauterine infection]: Group I, term pregnancy not in labor; group II, normal term labor; group III, preterm labor and undelivered within one week of sampling and group IV, preterm labor and delivered within one week of sampling. Amniotic fluid was obtained by amniocentesis [in undelivered women] or at the time of amniotomy [in delivered women]. The samples were cultured to detect any intrauterine infection. Interleukin-6 [IL-6] was determined by a specific enzyme-linked immunoassay. The mean [ +/- SD] amniotic fluid IL-6 levels [pg/ml] were 25.5 +/- 6.2 in group I, 504 +/- 60.6 in group II, 45 +/- 15.1 in group III and 406 +/- 100.7 in group IV. However, insignificant difference in the IL-6 levels was found between the women of group II and group IV, a significant difference was noticed in the IL-6 levels between the undelivered [groups I and III] and delivered [groups II and IV] women whether in term or preterm labor. Therefore, it was concluded that the determination of IL-6 level in amniotic fluid may help in the prognosis and management of preterm labor

Comparative study of serum gastrin levels in mothers and neonates at birth after vaginal delivery, cesarean section and fetal compromise

This study included forty-one pregnant women with various perinatal conditions divided into five groups: Group I included cases with normal pregnancy and normal vaginal delivery without induction or augmentation [n=10], group II, elective repeat cesarean section [n=10], group III, suspected fetal compromise [n =8], group IV, post-date pregnancy [n =7] and group V, preeclampsia [n =6]. For each case immediately after delivery, gastrin levels were measured by RIA in maternal sera and cord sera of the neonates. Statistical analysis was performed by Mann-Whitney U test. The study showed that gastrin levels in the cord sera of the neonates in group I were significantly higher than those in neonates in group II. Serum gastrin concentrations in women in group IV were significantly higher than women in group II. Gastrin levels in cord sera of neonates in group III and group TV were significantly higher than those observed in group II. The study concluded that vaginal delivery and perinatal pathology might induce hypergastrinemia in both mother and neonate at birth