Presence of cell-free fetal circRNA in maternal plasma

Abstract

Introduction There is an urgent need to find novel stable cell-free fetal (cff)-RNA in the maternal circulation to facilitate the advance of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) to more effectively avoid birth defects. Material and methods CircRNA microarray was used to detect the cff-circRNA in plasma. Results There were cff-circRNAs from the fetus in the peripheral blood of pregnant women and persisted even until at least 24 hours after delivery. In addition, we found that cff-circRNA might have a specific expression pattern in gestational disease. Conclusions We demonstrated the presence of cff-circRNA in the maternal circulation that may shed new light on the development of NIPT.

Keywords

• noninvasive prenatal testing
• cell-free fetal circrna
• maternal-fetal communication