Amniotic fluid heat shock protein 70 concentration in histologic chorioamnionitis, term and preterm parturition

Figures & data

Table I.  Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with preterm labor and intact membranes (PTL) and patients with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PROM).

Characteristics	PTL who delivered at term without IAI (n = 42)	p	PTL who delivered preterm without IAI (n = 57)	p^a	PTL with IAI (n = 30)	p^b	Preterm PROM without IAI (n = 54)	p^c	Preterm PROM with IAI (n = 50)
Maternal age (years)	21 (16–39)	0.2	23 (15–38)	0.5	25 (16–33)	0.3	24 (15–41)	0.1	28 (17–39)
Nulliparous	10 (24%)	0.2	21 (37%)	0.4	14 (47%)	0.04*	18 (33%)	0.9	16 (32%)
Race
African-American	37 (88%)	0.8	49 (86%)	0.7	27 (90%)	0.4	43 (80%)	0.2	46 (92%)
Caucasian	3 (7%)		5 (9%)		2 (7%)		10 (18%)		4 (8%)
Hispanic	2 (5%)		2 (3%)		0		1 (2%)		0
Other	0		1 (2%)		1 (3%)		0		0
Gestational age at amniocentesis (weeks)	30.6 (23.3–34.0)	<0.001*	27.3 (20.6–34.0)	0.2	25.9 (20.0–33.3)	<0.001*	30.5 (20.0–33.7)	0.3	29.9 (20.0–33.9)
Gestational age at delivery (weeks)	39.0 (37.0–41.8)	<0.001*	30.7 (20.9–36.7)	0.002*	26.1 (20.3–34.4)	<0.001*	31.8 (20.0–35.0)	0.003*	29.9 (20.1–34.1)
Amniotic fluid HSP70 detectable	42 (100%)	1.0	56 (98%)	0.3	28 (93%)	0.09	54 (100%)	0.05	46 (92%)

IAI, intra-amniotic infection. Values are expressed as median (range) or number (percent). *p <0.05. ^aComparison between PTL who delivered preterm without IAI and PTL with IAI. ^bComparison between PTL who delivered at term without IAI and PTL with IAI. ^cComparison between preterm PROM with and without IAI.

Table II.  Demographic and clinical characteristics of women at midtrimester, women at term not in labor, and women at term in labor.

Characteristics	Women at midtrimester (n = 72)	Women at term, not in labor (n = 23)	Women at term, in labor (n = 48)
Maternal age (years)	37 (24–42)	27 (17–40)	23 (16–37)
Gestational age at amniocentesis (weeks)	16 (14–18)	39 (38–42)	39 (37–41)
Gestational age at delivery (weeks)	40 (37–42)	39 (38–42)	39 (37–41)
Amniotic fluid HSP70 detectable	41 (57%)	21 (91%)	44 (92%)

Values are expressed as median (range) or numbers (percent).

Figure 1. Amniotic fluid heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) concentration in women at mid-trimester and at term gestation not in labor. The median amniotic fluid concentration of HSP70 in women at term not in labor was significantly higher than in women at mid-trimester (term not in labor: median 34.9 ng/mL, range 0–78.1 ng/mL vs. mid-trimester: median 6.6 ng/mL, range 0–20.8 ng/mL; p <0.001). LOD: limit of detection. *p <0.05.

Figure 2. Amniotic fluid heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) concentration in women at term gestation. Women in spontaneous labor had a median amniotic fluid HSP70 concentration significantly higher than those not in labor (term in labor: median 60.7 ng/mL, range 0–359.9 ng/mL vs. term not in labor: median 34.9 ng/mL, range 0–78.1 ng/mL; p = 0.02). LOD: limit of detection. *p <0.05.

Figure 3. Amniotic fluid heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) concentration in women with preterm labor and intact membranes. The median amniotic fluid HSP70 concentration in woman with preterm labor with intra-amniotic infection (IAI) was significantly higher than in those without IAI who delivered preterm (preterm labor with IAI: median 82.9 ng/mL, range 0–500 ng/mL vs. preterm labor who delivered preterm without IAI: median 41.7 ng/mL, range 0–244 ng/mL; p = 0.001). There was no significant difference in the median amniotic fluid HSP70 concentration between women with preterm labor who delivered preterm without IAI and those who delivered at term (preterm labor who delivered preterm: median 41.7 ng/mL, range 0–244 ng/mL vs. preterm labor who delivered at term: median 38.2 ng/mL, range 7.8–110.7 ng/mL; p = 0.6). LOD: limit of detection. *p <0.05.

Figure 4. Amniotic fluid heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) concentration in women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (preterm PROM). The median amniotic fluid concentration of HSP70 was significantly higher in women with preterm PROM with intra-amniotic infection (IAI) than in those without IAI (IAI: median 86.5 ng/mL, range 0–428 ng/mL vs. without IAI: median 55.9 ng/mL, range 14.9–299.9 ng/mL; p = 0.007). LOD: limit of detection. *p <0.05.