1. ¹Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Sakamoto 1-7-1, 852-8501, Nagasaki Japan
2. ²Department of Human Genetics, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan
3. ³Department of Pediatrics, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan
4. ⁴The Research Institute of Personalized Health Sciences, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Hokkaido, Japan
5. ⁵Kyushu Medical Science, Nagasaki, Japan
6. ⁶Department of Human Genetics, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan
7. ⁷SORST, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Kawaguchi, Japan

Correspondence: Kiyonori Miura, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Sakamoto 1-7-1, 852-8501, Nagasaki Japan. Fax: +81-95-8497365. E-mail: kiyonori@net.nagasaki-u.ac.jp

^*Present address: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sasebo Chuo Hospital, Nagasaki, Japan

Received 9 November 2005; Accepted 7 January 2006; Published online 19 April 2006.

Abstract

Cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) in the supernatant of amniotic fluid, which is usually discarded, can be used as a sample for prenatal diagnosis. For rapid prenatal diagnosis of frequent chromosome abnormalities, for example trisomies 13, 18, and 21, and monosomy X, using cffDNA, we have developed a targeted microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) panel on which BAC clones from chromosomes 13, 18, 21, X, and Y were spotted. Microarray-CGH analysis was performed for a total of 13 fetuses with congenital anomalies using cffDNA from their uncultured amniotic fluid. Microarray CGH with cffDNA led to successful molecular karyotyping for 12 of 13 fetuses within 5 days. Karyotypes of the 12 fetuses (one case of trisomy 13, two of trisomy 18, two of trisomy 21, one of monosomy X, and six of normal karyotype) were later confirmed by conventional chromosome analysis using cultured amniocytes. The one fetus whose molecular-karyotype was indicated as normal by microarray CGH actually had a balanced translocation, 45,XY,der(14;21)(q10;q10). The results indicated that microarray CGH with cffDNA is a useful rapid prenatal diagnostic method at late gestation for chromosome abnormalities with copy-number changes, especially when combined with conventional karyotyping of cultured amniocytes.