Serum cytokines in second trimester pregnancy and their relationship with preterm births in the Ribeirão Preto and São Luiz cohorts

Objective: To evaluate the association between second trimester plasma cytokine levels in asymptomatic pregnant women and preterm births (PTB) in an attempt to identify a possible predictor of preterm birth. Methods: : Cohort case-control study including women with singleton pregnancies between 20 and 25 weeks and 6 days of gestation from two Brazilian cities. The patients were interviewed and venous blood samples were collected. The participants were again evaluated at birth. A total of 197 women with PTB comprised the case group. The control group was selected among term births (426 patients). Forty-one cytokines were compared between groups. Results: : When only spontaneous PTB were analyzed, GRO, sCD40L and MCP-1 levels were lower in the case group (p < 0.05). Logarithmic transformation was performed for cytokines with discrepant results, which showed increased levels of IL-2 in the group of spontaneous PTB (p < 0.05). In both analyses, the incidence of maternal smoking and of a history of preterm delivery differed significantly between the case and control groups. In multivariate analysis, only serum GRO levels differed between the case and control groups. CONCLUSION: Lower second trimester serum levels of GRO in asymptomatic women are associated with a larger number of PTB. This finding may reflect a deficient maternal inflammatory response.