Antonino Giambona1, Filippo Leto2, Gianfranca Damiani3, Cristina Jakil3, Valentina Cigna3, Giovanna Schillaci3, Giuseppe Stampone4, Aldo Volpes5, Adolfo Allegra5, Kypros H Nicolaides6, George Makrydimas7, Cristina Passarello2, Aurelio Maggio2. 1. Unit of Hematology for Rare Diseases of Blood and Blood-forming Organs, Regional Reference Laboratory for Screening Prenatal Diagnosis of Hemoglobinopathies, Palermo, Italy. a.giambona@villasofia.it. 2. Unit of Hematology for Rare Diseases of Blood and Blood-forming Organs, Regional Reference Laboratory for Screening Prenatal Diagnosis of Hemoglobinopathies, Palermo, Italy. 3. Unit of Prenatal Diagnosis, Hospital Villa Sofia Cervello, Palermo, Italy. 4. Bionat Italia s.r.l., Palermo, Italy. 5. Reproductive Medicine Unit, ANDROS Day Surgery Clinic, Palermo, Italy. 6. Harris Birthright Research Centre for Fetal Medicine, King's College, London, UK. 7. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ioannina University Hospital, Ioannina, Greece.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The main problem to wide acceptability of celocentesis as earlier prenatal diagnosis is contamination of the sample by maternal cells. The objective of this study was to investigate the cellular composition of celomic fluid for morphological discrimination between maternal and embryo-fetal cells. METHOD: Celomic fluids were aspired by ultrasound-guided transcervical celocentesis at 7-9 weeks' gestation from singleton pregnancies before surgical termination for psychological reasons. DNA extracted from celomic fluid cells showed the same morphology, and quantitative fluorescent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was performed to evaluate their fetal or maternal origin. RESULTS: Six different types of non-hematological maternal and four different types of embryo-fetal cells were detected. The most common maternal cells were of epithelial origin. The majority of embryo-fetal cells were roundish with a nucleus located in an eccentric position near the wall. These cells were considered to be erythroblasts, probably derived from the yolk sac that serves as the initial site of erythropoiesis. CONCLUSIONS: The combined use of morphology and DNA analysis makes it possible to select and isolate embryo-fetal cells, even when maternal contamination is high. This development provides the opportunity for the use of celocentesis for early prenatal diagnosis of genetic diseases and application of array comparative genomic hybridization.
OBJECTIVE: The main problem to wide acceptability of celocentesis as earlier prenatal diagnosis is contamination of the sample by maternal cells. The objective of this study was to investigate the cellular composition of celomic fluid for morphological discrimination between maternal and embryo-fetal cells. METHOD: Celomic fluids were aspired by ultrasound-guided transcervical celocentesis at 7-9 weeks' gestation from singleton pregnancies before surgical termination for psychological reasons. DNA extracted from celomic fluid cells showed the same morphology, and quantitative fluorescent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was performed to evaluate their fetal or maternal origin. RESULTS: Six different types of non-hematological maternal and four different types of embryo-fetal cells were detected. The most common maternal cells were of epithelial origin. The majority of embryo-fetal cells were roundish with a nucleus located in an eccentric position near the wall. These cells were considered to be erythroblasts, probably derived from the yolk sac that serves as the initial site of erythropoiesis. CONCLUSIONS: The combined use of morphology and DNA analysis makes it possible to select and isolate embryo-fetal cells, even when maternal contamination is high. This development provides the opportunity for the use of celocentesis for early prenatal diagnosis of genetic diseases and application of array comparative genomic hybridization.
Authors: Antonino Giambona; Margherita Vinciguerra; Filippo Leto; Filippo Cassarà; Viviana Tartaglia; Valentina Cigna; Emanuela Orlandi; Francesco Picciotto; Nourah H Al Qahtani; Eman S Alsulmi; Noor B Almandil; Sayed AbdulAzeez; J Francis Borgio; Aurelio Maggio Journal: Mol Diagn Ther Date: 2022-02-17 Impact factor: 4.074