Megabolon公司开发出预测胎儿早产的新指标

研究人员使用获得技术的方法，研究羊膜液体试图鉴别有早产史的女性是否有分娩出早产胎儿的危险。

研究人员研究了3组患者的羊膜液体：早产患者、早产且羊膜内感染患者、没有炎症但是仍然有早产的患者。

“我们发现使用代谢物描述方法，我们有96％的可能鉴别出患者属于哪个临床群体。”Roberto Romero医生指出，他是美国国立儿童健康和人类发育研究院围产期研究分部(NICHD; Bethesda, MD, USA)的主任，也是这个项目的主要研究人员。“在不同亚类的人群之中进行的、样本数量更大的第二项研究，业已证实我们方法的十分有效。迄今为止，我们还从没有如此精确方法来预测早产进程。”

这项研究结果在2005年2月10日Reno(NV,USA)举行的母婴医学学会科学年会上进行了报道。Metabolon公司(Research Triangle Park, NC, USA)一直致力于研究蜕变中间产物来发现生物指标，这是发现和开发药物和疾病早期诊断的强有力的新方法。

Megabolon总裁兼首席执行官John Ryals说：“我们成功描绘出羊水液体蜕变中间产物，鉴别出关键生物学指标，将有助于研究人员开发出确定早产危险的工具。”
 
 
Predicting Preterm Babies
 
Using a proprietary technology platform, researchers have profiled the amniotic fluid called metabolome in order to identify which women who have experienced preterm labor are also at risk of delivering a preterm baby.

The researchers studied the amniotic fluid of three groups of patients: those with preterm labor who delivered at term, those with intra-amniotic inflammation who had both preterm labor and delivery, and those with no sign of inflammation who still had preterm labor and delivery.

“We discovered that by using metabolic profiling, 96% of the time we could identify the patients as belonging to the appropriate clinical group,” noted Roberto Romero, M.D., primary study author and chief of the Perinatology Research Branch of the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD; Bethesda, MD, USA). “A second study, in a different set of patients with a larger sample size, has already confirmed the effectiveness of our method. Until now, we have never had a way to predict the course of preterm labor with such accuracy.”

The study results were presented at the annual Scientific Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine on February 10, 2005, in Reno (NV,USA). Metabolon, Inc. (Research Triangle Park, NC, USA) is leading the discovery of biomarkers through the use of metabolomics, a powerful and new scientific approach for the discovery and development of drugs and the early diagnosis of disease.

“Our successful profiling of the amniotic fluid metabolome and the identification of key biomarkers will aid researchers in the development of tools to determine preterm delivery risk,” said John Ryals, president and CEO of Metabolon.