Fetuin B may be a potential marker for predicting maternal and neonatal outcomes in intrahepatic cholestasis: Prospective case-control study

Jasmina Begum; Sweta Singh; Gautom Kumar Saharia; Manas Kumar Panigrahi

doi:10.4274/tjod.galenos.2023.37096

Fetuin B may be a potential marker for predicting maternal and neonatal outcomes in intrahepatic cholestasis: Prospective case-control study

Turk J Obstet Gynecol. 2023 Mar 10;20(1):29-37. doi: 10.4274/tjod.galenos.2023.37096.

Authors

Jasmina Begum¹, Sweta Singh¹, Gautom Kumar Saharia², Manas Kumar Panigrahi³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, India.
² Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, India.
³ Department of Medical Gastroenterology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, India.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the levels of serum fetuin B in healthy pregnant women and women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (IHCP) and their association with pregnancy outcomes.

Materials and methods: This was a prospective case-control study, we included sixty singleton pregnant women with IHCP and sixty healthy-matched pregnant women in their third trimester. The serum fetuin B levels of these patients were analyzed. All the patients were followed up prospectively until delivery and data related to maternal, perinatal, and neonatal outcomes were obtained.

Results: Total bile acid levels and liver function tests were significantly higher in the IHCP group than in the control group (p<0.0001 and <0.0001, respectively). The serum fetuin B concentrations were higher in the IHCP group than in the control group, without any significant group difference (p=0.105). Preterm delivery, iatrogenic preterm delivery, and birth weight ≤2.500 gm are only significantly associated with serum fetuin B levels respectively (p<0.05). The diagnostic performance of serum bile acids [area under the curve (AUC)=0.998] was significantly better than that of fetuin B (AUC=0.586) (DeLong's test p≤0.001).

Conclusion: We neither noted a significant difference between the IHCP and control groups concerning the serum fetuin B levels nor could we correlate its levels with adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes except with birth weight, thereby serum fetuin B was not an effective marker for use in shedding light on the pathophysiology of IHCP.

Keywords: Total bile acids; farnesoid X receptor ursodeoxycholic acid; intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy; maternal-fetal outcomes.