DYS14 assay is the best approach for early fetal gender assessment because it is more sensitive, accurate, and efficient than the SRY assay.

We developed a combined methodological approach to enrich and to proliferate in vitro fetal CD34+ stem progenitor cells. Using a magnetic cell-sorting technique, CD34+ cells from pregnant women at the early-second trimester were isolated and enriched and compared to those isolated from blood of nonpregnant women. The number and frequency of CD34+ cells were significantly higher (p < 0.001) in the pregnant women. Unenriched peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and enriched CD34+ cells were cultured in a methylcellulose system to evaluate the cloning potential of progenitor cells. After culture, the numbers of burst-forming units erythroid/colony-forming units erythroid (BFU-E/CFU-E) and colony-forming units granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) colonies were increased by 33 and 16 times, respectively. Finally, to distinguish between fetal and maternal cells, four cases of cultured cells were hybridized with specific probes for X and Y chromosomes and two cases with a specific probe for chromosome 21. In normal pregnancies, we identified a high number of male fetal cells and an elevated fetal/maternal ratio. When we analyzed blood samples from pregnancies with trisomic fetuses, we scored a high ratio of trisomic cells respect to maternal cells that was significantly different from the ratio of pregnancies with normal fetuses. Our results demonstrate fetal progenitor cells may be cultured and detected successfully with an appropriate combined methodological approach, which may significantly increase the feasibility of noninvasive prenatal diagnosis.

In the present study, we report a new method for enrichment and analysis of fetal CD34 + stem cells after culture in order to determine whether it is feasible for noninvasive prenatal diagnosis. We also determined whether fetal CD34 + stem cells persist in maternal blood after delivery and assessed whether they have an impact on noninvasive prenatal diagnosis of genetic abnormalities.Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 35 pregnant women, 13 non-pregnant women who had given birth to male offsprings, 12 women who had never been pregnant, and eight pregnant women with male fetuses. CD34 + stem cells were enriched and either cultured for prenatal diagnosis or analyzed with fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)/polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to determine peristance in maternal blood. Fetal/maternal cells can be isolated and grown "in vitro" to provide enough cells for a more accurate fetal sex or aneuploid prediction than is provided by unenriched and uncultured CD34+ stem cells. The presence of fetal cells in maternal blood samples from mothers who had given birth to male offspring was found in 3 of 13 blood samples. PCR was positive for Y chromosome in one woman who had never been pregnant. Analysis of cultured CD34 + stem cells from mothers with Y PCR positivity did not detect any male cells in any samples. Even if PCR positivity is due to persistence of fetal stem cells from previous pregnancies, it does not seem to affect this new system of enrichment, culture, and FISH analysis of CD34 + fetal stem cells.

Abnormally circulating levels of sVCAM-1, sICAM-1 and sE-selectin may have a predictive value for pre-eclampsia and IUGR, as they may be linked with endothelial activation and/or damage.

CffDNA, from 344 non-smoking, 38 smoking and 33 ex-smoking pregnant women at 11 (+0)-13 (+6) gestational weeks, was extracted and quantified by the multicopy DYS14, as the fetal DNA marker and using the quantitative real-time PCR 7300 detection system. The smoking habit was based on maternal self-report, confirmed by cotinine levels and male fetuses were verified by phenotype at birth. The genders of newborns were compared with DYS14-cffDNA analysis, achieving a 100% diagnostic accuracy of the test. A total of 177 non-smokers, 18 smokers and 22 ex-smoker pregnancies with male fetuses were identified by the cffDNA concentration. Results showed that smoking status was not associated with different amounts of DYS14-cffDNA (p = 0.159), suggesting the possibility of offering cffDNA testing to all pregnant women, even if they are active smokers or ex-smokers, and the test can be unadjusted for smoking status.