ArticleAmerican journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989)2010
Activation of the alternative pathway of complement is a feature of pre-term parturition but not of spontaneous labor at term.
Article in American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989), 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Complement and neutrophils are actively involved at the cervicovaginal interface in cases of adverse microbial composition, cervical shortening and spontaneous preterm birth.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2026Article
- Environmental and genetic risk factors for preterm birth: interplays with stressful events during pregnancy.Pediatric research · 2025Article
- Pregnancy-specific transcriptional changes upon endotoxin exposure in mice.Journal of perinatal medicine · 2020Article
- Normal range of complement components during pregnancy: A prospective study.American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989) · 2020Article
- Essential Role of Complement in Pregnancy: From Implantation to Parturition and Beyond.Frontiers in immunology · 2020Review
- Population-Based Estimation of the Preterm Birth Rate in Lilongwe, Malawi: Making Every Birth Count.AJP reports · 2020Article
- Brief Report: Markers of Spontaneous Preterm Delivery in Women Living With HIV: Relationship With Protease Inhibitors and Vitamin D.Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) · 2019Article
- Choriodecidual leukocytes display a unique gene expression signature in spontaneous labor at term.Genes and immunity · 2019Article
- Qualitative assessment of knowledge transfer regarding preterm birth in Malawi following the implementation of targeted health messages over 3 years.International journal of women's health · 2019Article
- Complement C3a, But Not C5a, Levels in Amniotic Fluid Are Associated with Intra-amniotic Infection and/or Inflammation and Preterm Delivery in Women with Cervical Insufficiency or an Asymptomatic Short Cervix (≤ 25 mm).Journal of Korean medical science · 2018Article
- Innate lymphoid cells at the human maternal-fetal interface in spontaneous preterm labor.American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989) · 2018Article
- In vivo activation of invariant natural killer T cells induces systemic and local alterations in T-cell subsets prior to preterm birth.Clinical and experimental immunology · 2017Article
- An M1-like Macrophage Polarization in Decidual Tissue during Spontaneous Preterm Labor That Is Attenuated by Rosiglitazone Treatment.Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) · 2016Article
- Trophoblast-microbiome interaction: a new paradigm on immune regulation.American journal of obstetrics and gynecology · 2015Review
- The complement system and adverse pregnancy outcomes.Molecular immunology · 2015Review
- Mild hypothermia inhibits systemic and cerebral complement activation in a swine model of cardiac arrest.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2015Article
- The preterm placental microbiome varies in association with excess maternal gestational weight gain.American journal of obstetrics and gynecology · 2015Article
- New insights into the relationship between viral infection and pregnancy complications.American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989) · 2014Article
- Maternal and fetal alternative complement pathway activation in early severe preeclampsia.American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989) · 2014Article
- Maternal coding variants in complement receptor 1 and spontaneous idiopathic preterm birth.Human genetics · 2013Article
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
problemPlasma concentrations of fragment Bb (FBb) are a marker for activation of the alternative pathway of the complement system. High concentrations of FBb in maternal blood, as early as the first trimester, are associated with subsequent spontaneous pre-term delivery <34 weeks of gestation. The aim of this study was to determine whether spontaneous pre-term labor (PTL) with intact membranes, intra-amniotic infection/inflammation (IAI) or labor at term are associated with alterations in circulating maternal FBb concentrations. METHOD OF STUDY: This cross-sectional study included women in the following groups: (i) non-pregnant (n = 40); (ii) normal pregnancy (gestational age range 20-36, 6/7 weeks, n = 63); (iii) women at term not in labor (n = 70); (iv) women at term in spontaneous labor (n = 59); (v) patients with an episode of PTL who delivered at term (n = 62); (vi) PTL without IAI who delivered pre-term (n = 30); and (vii) PTL with IAI who delivered pre-term (n = 67). Maternal plasma FBb concentrations were determined by ELISA.
results(i) Among patients with PTL, those who had a pre-term delivery either with IAI (1.21 microg/mL, IQR 0.77-2.16) or without IAI (1.13 microg/mL, IQR 0.92-2.08) had a higher median maternal plasma FBb concentration than those who delivered at term (0.86 microg/mL, IQR 0.64-1.57; P = 0.007 and P = 0.026, respectively); (ii) there was no difference in the median plasma FBb concentration between patients with and without IAI who delivered pre-term (P = 0.9); (iii) in contrast, spontaneous labor at term was not associated with a significant change in the maternal plasma FBb concentration (P = 0.8); (iv) maternal plasma concentration of FBb did not differ significantly between normal pregnant women and the non-pregnant controls (P = 0.8) and were not correlated with advancing gestational age (r = -0.28, P = 0.8).
conclusion(i) Pre-term parturition is associated with activation of the alternative complement pathway in maternal circulation; (ii) such activation is not detectable in spontaneous labor at term; (iii) IAI does not explain the activation of the alternative pathway of complement in PTL. Collectively, these observations suggest that pre-term and term labors have fundamental differences in the regulation of innate immunity.
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