Maternal plasma fetuin-A levels in fetal growth restriction: A case-control study

Background: Higher Fetuin-A (FA) concentrations were found to be associated with obesity and there is an interest to the relation between maternal FA and pregnancy outcomes. Objective: In this study, our aim was to evaluate the association of maternal plasma levels of FA with fetal growth restriction (FGR). Materials and Methods: 41 pregnant women with FGR and 40 controls were recruited in this case-control study between July and November 2015. At the diagnosis of FGR, venous blood samples (10 cc) were obtained for FA analysis. Results: Maternal plasma FA levels were significantly higher in fetal growth-restricted pregnant women compared with controls (19.3 ± 3.0 ng/ml vs 25.9 ± 6.8 ng/ml, p = 0.001). Area under receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of FA in FGR was 0.815 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.718-0.912, p < 0.001). The maternal FA levels with values more than 22.5 ng/ml had a sensitivity of about 73.17% (95% CI: 56.79- 85.25) and a specificity of about 82.5% (95% CI: 66.64-92.11) with positive and negative predictive values of about 81.08% (95% CI: 64.29-91.45) and 75% (95% CI: 59.35-86.30), respectively. Therefore, the diagnostic accuracy was obtained about 77.78%. Conclusion: The results of this study show higher maternal plasma levels of FA in FGR. Further studies are needed in order to demonstrate the long-term effects of FA in pregnancies complicated with FGR and early prediction of FGR.