Is cervical swab an efficient method for developing a new noninvasive prenatal diagnostic test for numerical and structural chromosome anomalies?

Authors: ERKAN YURTCU, DENİZ KARÇAALTINCABA, HASAN HÜSEYİN KAZAN, HALİS ÖZDEMİR, MERAL YİRMİBEŞ KARAOĞUZ, PINAR TOKDEMİR ÇALIŞ, GÜLSÜM KAYHAN, SEZEN GÜNTEKİN ERGÜN, FERDA EMRİYE PERÇİN, MERİH BAYRAM, MUSTAFA NECMİ İLHAN, GAMZE BİLGİLİ DEDEOĞLU, TUĞRUL KAYMAK, MEHMET ALİ ERGÜN

Abstract: Background/aim: Prenatal diagnosis is vital to obtain healthy generation for risky pregnancies. There have been several approaches, some of which are routinely applied in clinics to evaluate the possible prenatal deficiencies and/or diseases. In the present study, we aimed to isolate the fetal cells from endocervical samples and try to identify possible anomalies which were proved by Amniocentesis (AS) and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) methods. Materials and methods: Endoservical specimens were collected from 100 pregnant women. Cells were separated in parallel by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) using human leukocyte antigen (HLA) G233 and placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) antibodies. CMA (comprehensive meta-analysis) were carried out and male fetuses were confirmed with Sex determining region Y (SRY) amplification. Results: The percent of HLA G233 and placental and placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) positive cells were 4.55% and 84.59%, respectively. The percent of cells positive for both markers was 14.75%. CMA analyses were not informative. (SRY) was amplified in 67% of the samples. Conclusion: However, the success rate of the both cell sorting and scanning of DNA anomalies by aCGH and/or RT-PCR was limited, preventing the applicability of this proposal in the clinics. Still, the success of the proposed method depends on the development of the novel fetal cell-specific antibodies and the improvements in the sorting systems.

Keywords: Cervical swab, CMA (comprehensive meta-analysis), fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS)

Full Text: PDF