C-reactive protein in normal parturients is clinically not significantly elevated

The role of an inflammatory response in the cervical changes accompanying parturition has been postulated and it is known that CRP concentrations are mildly elevated in pregnancy and labor. It has been theorized that the onset of parturition, because it is mediated by cytokines, is due to the effects of inflammatory cells, such as activated neutrophils. In this study of 127 normal subjects, an acute phase reactant, C-reactive protein, was not markedly elevated as would be anticipated in a true inflammatory state. This suggests that an inflammatory response does not appear to play an essential role in the cervical changes of the extracellular matrix in late gestation and parturition in normal subjects at the onset of labor.

Duke Scholars

Author Phyllis Carolyn Leppert Obstetrics and Gynecology