Abstract:
Backgrond Trisomy 21 is the most common chromosomal anomaly, but the correlation between the amino acid content of amniotic fluid and plasma in pregnant women and trisomy 21 is still unclear.
Objective To analyze amino acids related to trisomy 21 in amniotic fluid and serum of pregnant women, and investigate the correlation between amino acid and trisomy 21 syndrome.
Methods Pregnant women who underwent amniocentesis in the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital from March 2018 to March 2019 were enrolled in the study, 10 pregnant women with trisomy 21 fetal karyotype were in testing group and 10 pregnant women with normal fetal karyotype were in control group. The contents of amino acids in amniotic fluid and serum were detected by ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The difference of amino acids contents between the two groups was analyzed.
Results The results of quantitative analysis of amino acids in amniotic fluid showed that, except proline (Pro) and taurine (Tau), 18 kinds of amino acids in the testing group were lower than those in the control group, and 10 of them (Arg, Asp, Glu, Gly, Ile, Leu, Met, Phe, Ser, Val) showed statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). The results of quantitative analysis of plasma amino acids showed that the contents of 16 kinds of amino acids in the testing group were lower than those in the control group, including Ala, Asp, Cys, Glu, Gly, His, Ile, Leu, Lys, Met, Phe, Ser, Thr, Trp, Tyr and Val, and the difference in Gly content between the two groups was significant (P=0.019).
Conclusion This study confirms that the amino acid content in amniotic fluid and plasma of trisomy 21 group is generally lower than that in the control group. Amino acids in amniotic fluid and plasma may be correlated with trisomy 21 syndrome.