Blood Proteins Diagnostic for Ectopic Pregnancy

Pregnant women have proteins in their blood that could be used for early diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy (EP).

Scientists analyzed the proteins in blood from women with ectopic pregnancies and compared them to those in the blood of women with normal pregnancies. They identified almost 70 proteins occurring in unusual levels in the blood in patients with EPs.

One of the proteins is called Adam12 and it might be a particularly good early warning sign for EP, because it appears at levels that are 20 times lower than in normal pregnancies.

Ectopic pregnancy happens when an embryo does not attach normally inside the mother's uterus, but instead attaches and begins growing elsewhere. Most occur inside one of the Fallopian tubes, which link the ovaries to the uterus. As the embryo grows, the tube can rupture, resulting in the loss of the embryo and threatening the life of the pregnant woman. Ectopic pregnancies occur in about one in 40 to 100 pregnancies, and are a leading cause of death in the first trimester of pregnancy. There is no single proven blood test for ectopic pregnancy, and current diagnosis relies on the use of ultrasound.

The study was carried out by scientists at The Wistar Institute (Philadelphia, PA, USA) and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (Philadelphia, PA, USA). It was reported in the American Chemistry Society's February 16, 2011, issue of the Journal of Proteome Research.

"Here we describe a group of proteins that, with further refinement, could make a simple blood test for ectopic pregnancy,” said David W. Speicher, PhD, professor and co-leader of Wistar's Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis Program and director of Wistar's Center for Systems and Computational Biology. "This is also a proof-of-principle demonstration of a new method for the discovery of new blood-borne markers that may serve as diagnostic blood tests to detect or predict a variety of clinical conditions and diseases, from ectopic pregnancy to cancer.”

"The next step is clearly to test the candidate biomarkers on a larger, independent patient group, both individually and in multibiomarker panels,” the report states.

Related Links:
The Wistar Institute
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine