Assessment of Maternal Serum Biochemical Attributes and Fetal Ultrasound Scans in First-Trimester Low-Risk Noninvasive Prenatal-Tested Pregnant Women

Introduction: The first trimester of pregnancy is marked by several important disrupting changes as a result of complex biological upshot of events required for the development of the fetus. These changes in the biological events result in changes in the maternal serum biomarkers that are associated with fetal growth. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the correlation between the maternal blood biochemical determinants such as pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) and alpha fetoprotein (AFP) with ultrasound scans during early pregnancy in the first trimester. Methods: The study included 139 women whose fetus was alive between 11 +/- 1 weeks of gestation. The risk of fetal chromosomal abnormalities at first trimester was analyzed by the VeriSeq NIPT Solution v2 platform (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA) for noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) assay. The PAPP-A and AFP levels were evaluated by chemiluminescent immunoassays. The levels of PAPP-A and AFP were correlated with the fetal heart rate (HR), crown rump length (CRL), and nuchal translucency (NT) by Pearson's correlation analysis. Results: The mean age of the participants was 28.35 +/- 3.87 years (minimum-21, maximum-35). The mean AFP and PAPP-A levels in the maternal plasma were 14.76 +/- 1.04 ng/mL and 4.37 +/- 0.86 mIU/ml respectively. The mean FHR, CRL, and NT were 138 +/- 7.62 bpm, 59 +/- 3.24 mm, and 2.3 +/- 0.61 mm respectively. PAPP-A and AFP significantly (p<0.05) correlated with fetal HR, CRL, and NT at 11 +/- 1 weeks of gestation. The mean ratio of AFP:PAPP-A in low-risk pregnancies was 3.37. Conclusions: The maternal serum biochemical attributes correlated well with the fetal ultrasound scans. The findings of the present study can prove to be clinically useful for clinical research, obstetrics, and gynaecology, especially for examinations of first-trimester pregnancies.