Activin A and Follistatin as Biomarkers for Ectopic Pregnancy and Missed Abortion. Issue 5 (7th October 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Daponte, Alexandros; Deligeoroglou, Efthimios; Garas, Antonios; Pournaras, Spyros; Hadjichristodoulou, Christos; Messinis, Ioannis E.
• Other Names: Rebelo Irene Academic Editor.
• Is Part Of: Disease markers. Volume 35:Issue 5(2013)
• Page Start: 497
• Page End: 503
• Publication Date: 2013-10-07
• Subjects: Diagnosis -- Periodicals; Biochemical markers -- Periodicals; Pathology -- Periodicals; 616
• DOI: 10.1155/2013/969473
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0278-0240

Abstract

Abstract : Activin A as a predictor of pregnancy failure has been the focus of heated debate, but the value of a combined activin A and follistatin (FS) measurement in serum to predict pregnancy failure has not been reported yet. We assessed whether a single serum measurement of the two physiological antagonists at 6–8 weeks gestation could differentiate ectopic pregnancies (EP) or missed abortions (MA) from healthy intrauterine pregnancies (IUP). activin A concentrations were significantly lower in women with EP (n = 30, median value of 264 pg/mL) and women with MA (n = 30, median value of 350 pg/mL) compared to IUP (n = 33, median value of 788 pg/mL);P < 0.001 . At a threshold value of 505 pg/mL, activin A had 87.9% sensitivity and 100% specificity and negative predictive value of 0.974 for discriminating an ectopic pregnancy from viable pregnancies. FS was able to discriminate IUP from EP (ROC curveP < 0.001 ) as was their ratio (ROC curveP = 0.008 ), but was unable to discriminate a MA from an EP. In EP, activin A did not correlate with beta HCG levels. The present findings support the thesis that activin A or FS could be considered promising biomarkers for the discrimination between an IUP and a failed pregnancy (MA or EP).