The research conducted at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) found that a preterm baby has 120 times higher risk of death than babies born full term after 37 weeks of conception.
Dr. Roberto Romero of NICHD said, “Preterm birth costs the United States $26 billion per year. It is one of the most serious and significant challenges to medicine and society and one whose importance is not fully recognized.”
Romero added that, “The findings support the notion that preterm delivery is an evolutionary mechanism intended to protect baby and mother from infection.”
Details of the study
The research team examined 190 gene samples, and about 700 DNA variants from 229 women, and 179 preterm babies in Chile.
The team compared these samples to that of 600 other females who delivered their babies at the completion of the 37 week gestation period.
The scientists found that some DNA variants in the fetus, and a few genes
present in the mother were linked to premature labor, and delivery.
Researchers also established that contamination in the usually disinfected amniotic fluid that envelops the growing fetus in the mother is the cause of infection in the preterm child.
Link between the infectious gene, and preterm birth
The team found that the most powerful gene influence in the fetus was interleukin 6 receptor—responsible for the body’s reply to contagion.
The team also concentrated on the gene-- tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 2 (TIMP2), in the mother, which influences formation in the cervix, and uterus that get busted at the commencement of labor.
Romero said, “When there is an infection, the combination of these two genetic profiles raises the risk of preterm labor as the body attempts to preserve the mother’s and baby’s lives.
“We have established that one of every three premature babies is born to a mother who has an intra-amniotic infection,” said Romero.
And surviving babies have breathing problems, bleeding in the brain, and can have major nervous imbalances like cerebral palsy-- a condition causing physical disability in human development.
“The hope is that the findings may lead to genetic tests that assess whether a woman is predisposed to premature labor. We are not there, but this is the beginning,” added Romero.
The study was presented at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) in Chicago.
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