Could a Simple Urine Test Predict Risk of Preterm Birth?

Urine tests help to determine pregnancy. Now, a recent study published in BMC Medicine shows that a simple urine test could also help predict the risk of a preterm delivery or poor fetal development.

Researchers from the Imperial College, London, found that certain biomarkers found in urine could help to screen for these conditions--providing hope for earlier treatments to future newborns.

Lead study author Hector Keum of the Department of Surgery and Cancer at the university said he decided to get involved in this kind of research after examining the alarming rates of preterm births in many developed countries. According to Keum, he said that there has been nearly a 20 percent increase.

Furthermore, in the United States alone, more than 40 percent of all recorded births were before the 37^th week of gestation in 2010, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"The rate of the rise suggests an environmental and not genetic cause, and it is these environmental factors that we are actively researching," Keun said, via Medical News Today.

For the study, researchers analyzed metabolites found in urine samples from 438 pregnant women at the university Hospital in Heraklion, Crete, Greece--an area that has also experienced an increase in preterm births. 

Findings revealed a number of clear biomarkers that may help to indicate conditions that show warning signs of preterm birth. 

"Future investigation of the factors that produce the molecules associated with these pregnancy outcomes should improve our understanding of the genetic and environmental factors that influence restricted fetal growth and thus help us to reduce the likelihood of these events," Keun concluded, via Science Codex. "We will also go on to test if exposure to these metabolites during pregnancy has a lasting impact on child development after birth."