ArticlePloS one2021
Revisiting the placental clock: Early corticotrophin-releasing hormone rise in recurrent preterm birth.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Perinatal HPA axis regulation and offspring neuropsychiatric development: mechanisms, developmental trajectories, and clinical implications.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Psychosocial stress and associations with inflammation in mid-gestation maternal, fetal, and placental tissue.Reproductive toxicology (Elmsford, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Exploring the Links Between Immigration and Birth Outcomes Among Latine Birthing Persons in the USA.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2025Review
- Sex-specific associations between placental corticotropin releasing hormone and problem behaviors in childhood.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- The end is where we start from: withdrawal of 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate to prevent recurrent preterm birth.American journal of obstetrics and gynecology · 2024Article
- Stress of Prematurity in the Experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic-Current State of Knowledge.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Development and function of the fetal adrenal.Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2023Review
- Corticotropin releasing hormone is present in the feline placenta and maternal serum.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
- Preterm Birth and Corticotrophin-Releasing Hormone as a Placental Clock.Endocrinology · 2022Review
- Article
- Prenatal phthalate exposure in relation to placental corticotropin releasing hormone (pCRH) in the CANDLE cohort.Environment international · 2022Article
- Prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure in relation to placental corticotropin releasing hormone (pCRH) in the CANDLE pregnancy cohort.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Article
- Spontaneous preterm birth: Involvement of multiple feto-maternal tissues and organ systems, differing mechanisms, and pathways.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo determine if maternal plasma CRH and preterm birth history were associated with recurrent preterm birth risk in a high-risk cohort. STUDY
designSecondary analysis of pregnant women with a prior preterm birth ≤35 weeks receiving 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate for the prevention of recurrent spontaneous preterm birth. All women with a 24-week blood sample were included. Maternal plasma CRH level at 24- and 32-weeks' gestation was measured using both enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and extracted radioimmunoassay (RIA) technologies. The primary outcome was spontaneous preterm birth <37 weeks. The association of CRH, prior preterm birth history, and the two combined was assessed in relation to recurrent preterm birth risk.
resultsRecurrent preterm birth in this cohort of 169 women was 24.9%. Comparing women who subsequently delivered <37 versus ≥37 weeks, mean levels of CRH measured by RIA were significantly different at 24 weeks (111.1±87.5 vs. 66.1±45.4 pg/mL, P = .002) and 32 weeks (440.9±275.6 vs. 280.2±214.5 pg/mL, P = .003). The area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) at 24 and 32 weeks for (1) CRH level was 0.68 (95% CI 0.59-0.78) and 0.70 (95% CI 0.59-0.81), (2) prior preterm birth history was 0.75 (95% CI 0.67-0.83) and 0.78 (95% CI 0.69-0.87), and (3) combined was 0.81 (95% CI 0.73-0.88, P = .001) and 0.81 (95% CI 0.72-0.90, P = .01) respectively for delivery <37 weeks. CRH measured by ELISA failed to correlate with gestational age or other clinical parameters.
conclusionIn women with a prior preterm birth, CRH levels were higher and had an earlier rise in women who experienced recurrent preterm birth. Second trimester CRH may be useful in identifying a sub-group of women with preterm birth due to early activation of the placenta-fetal adrenal axis. Assay methodology is a variable that contributes to difficulties in reproducibility of CRH levels in the obstetric literature.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.