Maternal Serum Adiponectin at 11-13 Weeks of Gestation in Pregnancies Delivering Small for Gestation Neonates

Objective: To investigate whether maternal serum levels of adiponectin in the first trimester are altered in pregnancies that subsequently deliver small for gestational age (SGA) neonates. Methods: Maternal serum adiponectin and pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) were measured at 11–13 weeks’ gestation in 50 singleton normotensive pregnancies that delivered SGA neonates and 300 non-SGA controls. The median adiponectin and PAPP-A levels in the SGA and non-SGA groups, expressed as multiple of the unaffected median (MoM), were compared. Results: The distribution of serum adiponectin was made gaussian by square root (sqrt) transformation. Regression analysis in the non-SGA group demonstrated that for sqrt adiponectin a significant independent contribution was provided by maternal age, weight, smoking status, African and South-Asian racial origin. Each value in the SGA and non-SGA group was then converted into a multiple of the non-SGA median (MoM) after Received: November 1, 2010 Accepted after revision: November 22, 2010 Published online: February 3, 2011 Prof. K.H. Nicolaides Harris Birthright Research Centre for Fetal Medicine, King’s College Hospital Denmark Hill, London SE5 9RS (UK) Tel. +44 203 299 8256, Fax +44 207 733 9534 E-Mail kypros @ fetalmedicine.com © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel 1015–3837/11/0294–0274$38.00/0 Accessible online at: www.karger.com/fdt Adiponectin and Small for Gestation Fetal Diagn Ther 2011;29:274–279 275 tration of adiponectin [6, 7] . Additionally, adiponectin levels are reduced in cord blood of SGA neonates and in the blood of children that were SGA at birth [8, 9] . The aim of this study is to investigate whether the low maternal serum level of adiponectin observed in association with SGA fetuses precedes the onset of the fetal growth deficiency and is apparent from the first trimester of pregnancy. In addition, we investigate whether the serum level of adiponectin is related to alterations in placental function, reflected in the serum level of PAPP-A, which is known to be decreased in affected pregnancies [10] .