| IntroductionFollistatin is a monomeric glycosylated polypeptide chain which was initiallly identified and isolated from both bovine and porcine follicular fluids in 1987, which has inhibin like biologic activity. Its physiological functions are closely related to its high - affinity binding to activins , therefore , follistatin is also known as activin - binding proteins . Follistatin neutralise activins biological activity by the forms of autocrine and paracrine . It have diverse biological functions that inhibits pituary follice stimulating hormone secretion, takes part in ovarian grannulose cell differentiation, corpus luteum mature, ovary atre-sia, embryo development and placentation etc.The recent reports that the feto - placental unit is the major source of circulating concentrations of inhibin A and activin A in human pregnancy . Considering the close relationship between activin/in-hibin and follistatin, it should be assumed that criculating serum follistatin also come from the feto - placental unit in the course of gesta-tin. In 2001,Jenkin validated that activin A, follistatin were released from the feto - placental unit. Feto - placental hypoxemia will lead to fetal hypoxia and an acute increase in fetal activin A and follistatin concentrations during late gestation. Thereout, we presurme follistatin is a index that can reflect feto - placental unit function. Our experi -ment use the correlation assay of follistatin and free estriol to determinant if follistatin can act as a index evaluating feto - placental unit function.Some foreign scholars have reported that follistatin concentrationsrise obviously with increasing; gestation week in the serum of pregnant women, follistatin levels was positively correlated with gestational weeks. However, follistatin levels in the serum of pregnant women have not exact range in every gestational week. We dynamicly observed follistatin levels of 210 pregnants who were 28-41 weeks gestation , established follistatin refrence value between every adjacent two weeks in the late gestation, and used as an index of estimating pregnant weeks. It will play an important role in estimating if gestation can be contitue, if pregnants can get a live and healthy baby, and treat timely pregnant complication.Material and methodSelecting 238 normal pregnant women as study subjects which included early gestation (8-12 weeks n = 10) , middle gestation (13 -27 weeks n = 18) , late gestation (28 -41 weeks n =210). All of these pregnant women were healthy and took no special medications, the gestational week of each subject was calculated from the first day of the last menstruation . In addition, selecring 10 nonpregnant women were controled with them. Collected 2 ml autecubital vein blood from two group subjects, 4℃ ,3000rpm, centrifuge 20 minutes,serum were separated from the samples and stored at -20℃ refigeratory until assay. Serum follistatin concentrations were measured by enzyme -linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) , which is provided by the experiment of neuroendocrinology of Bethune medical university, free estriol kit was provided by the American DPC company. All the operations were strictly according to the manual. All the data are presented as the mean ± s , Statistical analysis was performed t test and the correlation assay by Excel 2000 software.ResultsThe serum follistatin levels in pregnant women were remarkably elevated over those in nonpregnant women (4. 91 ± 1. 29ng/ml ;p < 0. 01). The serum follistatin level in the middle gestation (20.74 ±6. 12ng/ml)was significantly higher than that in the early gestation (9. 71 ±3.46ng/ml ; p < 0. 001) ,and the serum follistatin level in the late gestation (39. 66 ±9. 63ng/ml) was elevated over that during midgestation (p <0.001) , showing that the serum follistatin concentration increases with the advance of pregnancy. There is a strongly positive correlation between serum follistatin levels and gestational weeks (r =0.864; p<0.001).We dynamicly observed 210 pregnants who were 28 -4... |
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