Study of serum high sensitive C-Reactive protein and ferritin in preterm labor

Introduction: Preterm delivery is estimated to be one of the leading causes of perinatal morbidity and mortality, for which there are no known effective preventive measures. C - reactive protein (CRP) is one of the sensitive markers of systemic inflammation and ferritin is an acute phase reactant protein. Objectives: To compare the serum levels of high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and Ferritin between pregnant women presenting with preterm onset of labor followed by delivery and age matched women who delivers at term. Materials and Method: The study included 50 women aged between 18-35 years with singleton pregnancy and gestational age between 24-34 complete weeks with the diagnosis of new onset of preterm labor and a control group of 50 healthy and age matched pregnant women in the term labor. In all the cases and controls, serum hsCRP and ferritin were measured by the latex enhanced immuno-turbidimetric methods using reagent kits from Agappe diagnostics. Results: Serum mean levels of hsCRP and ferritin were significantly higher in preterm labour cases when compared to controls. The difference was statistically highly significant (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Present results demonstrated that the assessment of maternal concentrations of hsCRP and ferritin can be used as suitable biomarkers for predicting preterm labor.