ICTP concentration in cervical-vaginal fluid as a potential marker of membrane collagen degradation before labor.

Objectives: Numerous physical and chemical processes lead to rupture of membranes. Within the fetal membranes there are numerous types of metalloproteinases, which cause collagen type I degradation. The C-terminal telopeptide of colagen type I (ICTP) is the breakdown product of type I collagen. The aim of the study was to determine whether ICTP is secreted into the vaginal-cervical fluid (VCF) in the case of physiological rupture of the membranes of the fetus before delivery.

Material and methods: The study was conducted in March 2021 at the Department of Obstetrics and Perinatology of the Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Poland. Twenty-three cases were included in the study. During routine gynecological examination with the use of specula, VCF was collected twice in a volume of 50 µL. The obtained material was then subjected to enzyme immunoassay using the Human C-telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP) ELISA Kit (Catalog Number. CSB-E10363h). The concentration of ICTP in the sample was calibrated. The concentration range that the device can detect was 25 ng /mL-800 ng/mL.

Results: The presence of ICTP in the VCF was confirmed. The minimum concentration was 43.72 ng/mL, the maximum was 762.59, in five cases the concentration was outside the maximum scale of the device.

Conclusions: ICTP was confirmed in the VCF of pregnant women before physiological delivery. Further studies are required to accurately evaluate ICTP as a marker of the processes of collagen degradation in fetal membranes in the mechanism of physiological labor and premature rupture of the membranes.