Endothelin-1,2 levels are increased in the amniotic fluid of women with preterm labor and microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of gestational age, labor, and microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity on amniotic fluid concentrations of endothelin-1,2. Amniotic fluid was retrieved by amniocentesis from 148 women: patients at term with and without labor, patients with preterm labor with and without intraamniotic infection, and women in the second trimester of pregnancy. Endothelin-1,2 was measured by a sensitive and specific radioimmunoassay. Immunoreactive endothelin-1,2 was detectable in all samples of human amniotic fluid. Advancing gestational age and spontaneous term labor did not result in changes in amniotic fluid concentrations of endothelin-1,2. Women with preterm labor and positive amniotic fluid cultures for microorganisms had higher amniotic fluid concentrations of endothelin-1,2 than did those without microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity (p less than 0.05). These results support a role for endothelins in the mechanisms responsible for preterm delivery associated with intraamniotic infection.