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Amniotic Fluid Clara Cell Protein Concentration in Normal Pregnancy, a Marker of Fetal Airway Growth or Fetal Lung Maturation?

Journal of Perinatology volume 21, pages 516–520 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the relationship of Clara cell protein (CCP) in amniotic fluid (AF) with the lecithin/sphingomyelin (L/S) ratio, and the concentrations of saturated phosphatidylcholine (Sat PC) and surfactant protein A (SP-A).

STUDY DESIGN:AF samples were obtained by amniocentesis from 98 pregnancies without conditions known to influence fetal lung maturation between 25 and 41 weeks of gestation. These samples were used for determinations of CCP, L/S ratio, Sat PC, and SP-A. Simple and multiple linear regressions were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS:CCP in AF increased logarithmically with gestational age (R2=0.51, p=0.006). The L/S ratio (R2=0.41, p<0.001), and the concentrations of Sat PC (R2=0.26, p<0.001) and SP-A (R2=0.52, p<0.001) also increased with advancing gestation. Weak correlations of CCP with the L/S ratio (R2=0.22, p=0.009) and Sat PC (R2=0.12, p=0.004), but not with SP-A (R2=0.07, p=0.10), were found. Using multiple linear regressions, gestational age was the only predictor of CCP (F=10.9, R2=0.13, p=0.015). Conversely, gestational age, Sat PC, and SP-A accounted for most of the variation of the L/S ratio (F=34.7, R2=0.61, p=0.0001).

CONCLUSION:CCP correlated very poorly with known and widely accepted indices of fetal lung maturation. The increasing concentration of CCP in AF throughout gestation probably reflects growth and development of the fetal airways.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics and Centro de Investigaciones Perinatales, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Andres Maturana MD

  2. Unit of Industrial Toxicology and Occupational Medicine, Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain, Belgium

    Alfred Bernard MD

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Medical Research Center, Catholic University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Alfredo M Germain MD

  4. Department of Pediatrics, U.T. Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

    Vickey L Chau BS & Fernando R Moya MD

Authors
  1. Andres Maturana MD
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  2. Alfred Bernard MD
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  3. Alfredo M Germain MD
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  4. Vickey L Chau BS
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  5. Fernando R Moya MD
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Additional information

Presented in part at the Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, May 1996, and published in abstract form in Pediatr Res 1996;39:228A.

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Maturana, A., Bernard, A., Germain, A. et al. Amniotic Fluid Clara Cell Protein Concentration in Normal Pregnancy, a Marker of Fetal Airway Growth or Fetal Lung Maturation?. J Perinatol 21, 516–520 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7210578

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