Whole-transcriptome analysis of maternal blood
for identification of RNA markers for predicting
spontaneous preterm birth among preterm labour
women: abridged secondary publication
SSC Chim1, TF Chan2, TY Leung1
1Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
2School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
1. Accurate prediction of spontaneous preterm
birth (sPTB) before 37 weeks among women
presenting with preterm labour may facilitate
better patient care.
2. RNA-seq facilitates systematic search of markers in the transcriptome of maternal peripheral blood, which is relatively non-invasive, compared with amniotic fluid, chorionic villi, or foetal membrane.
3. We identified 68 differentially expressed transcripts between those preterm labour women ending in sPTB and those ending in term birth. Preterm labour women tested positive for two transcripts deliver significantly sooner than those tested negative.
4. The up-regulated transcripts in sPTB were over-represented with gene-ontology terms in inflammation and defence response to bacteria and other organisms.
5. Maternal peripheral blood with sPTB-associated transcripts are potentially useful for predicting and studying sPTB.
2. RNA-seq facilitates systematic search of markers in the transcriptome of maternal peripheral blood, which is relatively non-invasive, compared with amniotic fluid, chorionic villi, or foetal membrane.
3. We identified 68 differentially expressed transcripts between those preterm labour women ending in sPTB and those ending in term birth. Preterm labour women tested positive for two transcripts deliver significantly sooner than those tested negative.
4. The up-regulated transcripts in sPTB were over-represented with gene-ontology terms in inflammation and defence response to bacteria and other organisms.
5. Maternal peripheral blood with sPTB-associated transcripts are potentially useful for predicting and studying sPTB.