Correlation of oestriol levels in saliva, plasma and urine of pregnant women

Placental characteristics as a proxy measure of serum hormone and protein levels during pregnancy with a male fetus

OBJECTIVE

In utero exposure to steroid hormones may be related to risk of some cancers such as testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT). To determine whether placental characteristics are good surrogate measures of maternal biomarker levels, we evaluated the correlations in mothers of sons at higher (whites, n = 150) and lower (blacks, n = 150) risk of TGCT. Associations with birth weight were also examined.

METHODS

All mothers, participants in the Collaborative Perinatal Project, were primigravidas who gave birth to male singletons. Associations between placental weight and placental thickness and third-trimester biomarker levels were evaluated using linear regression. Partial correlation coefficients for placental characteristics and birth weight were also estimated.

RESULTS

Placental weight was positively correlated with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), testosterone, estradiol and estriol in whites, and AFP and estriol in blacks. Placental thickness was not associated with any biomarker. After adjustment for placental weight, birth weight was not correlated with any biomarker.

CONCLUSIONS

In these data, placental weight was modestly correlated with third-trimester biomarker level; however, it appeared to be a better surrogate for third-trimester biomarker level than birth weight. Placental thickness had limited utility as a surrogate measure for biomarker levels.

Saliva as a fluid for measurement of estriol levels

OBJECTIVE

The purpose was to establish saliva as a reliable sample for the determination of estriol levels in pregnant women.

STUDY DESIGN

Literature and laboratory analyses were used to develop an assembly system to collect and analyze saliva for estriol level.

RESULTS

An enzyme-linked immunoassay for estriol has been developed to use whole saliva samples. Analytic performance characteristics for the assay have been determined to be appropriate for clinical determination of preterm risk assessment.

CONCLUSION

Saliva can serve as a reliable sample for estriol determination when coupled with an appropriate assay method.

Detection of enkephalin-like immunoreactive material in human saliva

1. A specific radioimmunoassay (RIA) was used to detect the presence of enkephalin-like activity in mixed saliva from healthy male and female human subjects, whose ages ranged from 20 to 30 and from 55 to 65 years. 2. Enkephalin-like immunoreactivity was measured in saliva from all subjects. Within the limits posed by the immunoassay no significant differences in levels were evident among the various groups. 3. The results of this study provide the first demonstration of opioid-like substances in saliva. 4. As the collection of saliva involves non-invasive techniques, this source may prove useful for monitoring enkephalin levels during various clinical procedures or experimental treatments.

The relation between saliva estriol levels in pregnancy and infant birth weight

Specimens of saliva were obtained from 106 women with normal pregnancies and from 42 women, whose children turned out to small for dates (birthweight below the 10th centile). Saliva estriol was highly significantly (P less than 0.0001) decreased in the group with a newborn with a birthweight below the 10th centile (500 +/- 340 ng/ml, mean +/- SD) when compared with the group with infants whose birthweight was over the 10th centile (813 +/- 449 ng/ml). Estriol determination in saliva seems to be a simple, non invasive method of aiding the detection of fetal growth retardation.