Meconium Proteins as Potential Biomarkers for Fetal Iron Status and Intrauterine Inflammation | Chapter 13 |Disease and Health: Research Developments Vol. 4

The lack of specific biological materials and biomarkers limits our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying intrauterine regulation of iron supply to the fetus. Determining the meconium content of proteins functionally related to the regulation of iron metabolism may explain their role in fetal development. This study assesses the homeostasis of iron metabolism in intrauterine fetal development by determining the concentrations and interdependencies in neonatal meconium proteins commonly recognized in laboratory diagnostics for the assessment of iron status. Ferritin, transferrin, haptoglobin, ceruloplasmin, lactoferrin, myeloperoxidase (MPO), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), and calprotectin were determined by ELISA in meconium samples obtained from 122 neonates. Statistical analysis was performed by using Statistica Version 13 (StatSoft Inc., TIBCO Software Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA). There were strong correlations between the meconium concentrations of haptoglobin, transferrin, and NGAL (p < 0.05). Meconium concentrations of ferritin were several-fold higher than the concentrations of the other proteins, with the exception of calprotectin whose concentration was approximately three-fold higher than that of ferritin. Meconium ceruloplasmin concentration significantly correlated with the concentrations of MPO, NGAL, lactoferrin, and calprotectin. Strong correlations between specific proteins in meconium, such as haptoglobin, transferrin, and NGAL, suggest their collaborative involvement in iron homeostasis within the fetus. Furthermore, the study's findings provide valuable information about the potential role of ceruloplasmin in regulating neutrophil activity in the intrauterine environment.

 

Author (s) Details

 

Ewa Skarzynska
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland

 

Artur Jakimiuk
Department of Obstetrics, Women’s Diseases and Gynecologic Oncology, National Medical Institute of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland and Center for Reproductive Health, Institute of Mother and Child, 01-211 Warsaw, Poland.

 

Tadeusz Issat
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Mother and Child, 01-211 Warsaw, Poland.

 

Barbara Lisowska-Myjak
Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacogenomics, Medical University of Warsaw, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/dhrd/v4/4167

Interdependencies between Vitamin D-Binding Protein, Alpha-1 Antitrypsin and Neutrophil Proteins in Meconium of Full-term Neonates | Chapter 4 | Recent Developments in Chemistry and Biochemistry Research Vol. 11

 Background/Aims: Neutrophils are one of the hosts of innate immune cells detected at the maternal-fetal interface. Careful regulation of the inflammatory and immunoregulatory functions of these cells most likely plays a role in successful gestation. Still, neutrophil assays are not commonly used in perinatal diagnosis as there are no specific biological materials available for their detection that could be simply and noninvasively obtained from the intrauterine environment. Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT), vitamin-D binding protein (VDBP) and neutrophil granule proteins are specifically related to the neutrophil function and may be considered candidate biomarkers detected and measured in meconium (the first feces of newborn infants) as signals indicating abnormal processes in the fetal stage. Individual proteins found in meconium can be a source of information pertaining to the intrauterine metabolic processes.

Methods: Concentrations of AAT, VDBP, calprotectin, myeloperoxidase, lactoferrin and elastase were measured using ELISA tests in 80 meconium samples collected from 19 healthy, full-term neonates.

Results: The meconium concentrations of VDBP and AAT (mean± SD, [mg/g meconium]: 3.74±6.93, 3.72±1.79, respectively) were approximately 1000 times higher than those of the protein granule proteins calprotectin, myeloperoxidase, elastase and lactoferrin (mean± SD, [µg/g meconium]: 285.7±215.8, 1.83±1.73, 1.72±2.70, 45.58±78.89, respectively). The correlation between VDBP and AAT was negative (r= - 0.40. p=0.000) and those between VDBP and calprotectin (r=0.38, p=0.000) and VDBP and myeloperoxidase (r=0.45, p=0.000) were positive. AAT was found to correlate positively with lactoferrin (r=0.38, p=0.000).

Conclusion: The correlations between the concentrations of VDBP and AAT, and with neutrophil granule proteins observed in meconium indicate their functional relationship in the intrauterine environment of the developing fetus. Meconium can be seen as an apparently underutilized source of biomarkers for the evaluation of metabolic processes specific to fetal development. The findings may offer new biomarkers for diagnosing abnormal intrauterine processes and help explore the metabolic conditions of the fetus. This research has potential implications in the field of neonatal diagnostics and fetal health monitoring.

 

Author (s) Details

Barbara Lisowska-Myjak
Department of Biochemistry and Clinical Chemistry, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland.

 

Ewa Skarzynska
Reproductive Health Department, Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw, Poland.

 

Artur Jakimiuk
Reproductive Health Department, Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw, Poland and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Central Clinical Hospital of MSWiA, Warsaw, Poland.

 

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/rdcbr/v11/4168