The maternal thiol/disulfide homeostasis does not change in pregnancies complicated by preterm prelabor rupture of membranes

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the maternal thiol/disulfide homeostasis in pregnant women complicated by preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM) and to compare the results with healthy pregnancies.

Materials and methods: This cohort study consisted of thirty-nine pregnancies complicated by PPROM and 44 gestational age-matched healthy pregnancies in the third trimester of gestation. Maternal serum samples were obtained at the day of diagnosis, and thiol/disulfide profiles were measured by using an automated assay method. The patients were followed till delivery, and perinatal outcomes were noted.

Results: The maternal native thiol (319.9 ± 30.5 μmol/L versus 305.1 ± 49.2 μmol/L, p: .100), total thiol (379.2 ± 38.8 μmol/L versus 363.6 ± 56.4 μmol/L, p: .142) and disulfide (29.7 ± 11.7 μmol/L versus 29.3 ± 10.1 μmol/L, p: .864) levels were similar between the groups. Maternal disulfide/native thiol, disulfide/total thiol and native thiol/total thiol ratios were similar between the groups (p: .610, p: .565 and .562, respectively). The maternal serum thiol/disulfide profiles were not significantly correlated with maternal serum C-reactive protein, white blood cell count values and ongoing pregnancy outcomes (p > .05).

Conclusions: The current study demonstrated that there was not any disturbance in maternal thiol/disulfide homeostasis in pregnancies complicated by PPROM at the time of initial diagnosis. Follow-up studies with larger sample size are needed to confirm our results.

Keywords:

• Preterm prelabor rupture of membranes
• thiol/disulfide homeostasis
• maternal serum
• pregnancy

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors indicated that there was no financial relationship with the organization that sponsored the research. The authors had full control of all primary data and we agree to allow the Journal to review our data if requested.