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TOPLINE:

Maternal serum syndecan-1 levels were significantly higher in women with preterm prelabour rupture of membranes (PPROM) and associated with a higher risk for composite adverse perinatal outcomes.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a prospective case-control study between November 2024 and April 2025 to compare maternal serum syndecan-1 levels between women with singleton pregnancies with and without PPROM.
• They included 64 pregnant women with PPROM at 24-34 weeks of gestation and 64 matched healthy pregnant women without PPROM.
• Maternal serum syndecan-1 levels were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
• Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses were performed to assess the predictive performance of syndecan-1 levels for composite adverse perinatal outcomes in women with PPROM.

TAKEAWAY:

• Maternal serum syndecan-1 levels were significantly higher in women with PPROM than in those without PPROM (19.29 ± 3.13 vs 14.67 ± 3.67 ng/mL; mean difference, 4.62 ng/mL; P < .001).
• Syndecan-1 levels were significantly higher in women with PPROM who developed composite adverse perinatal outcomes than in those who did not develop (20.04 ± 2.78 vs 16.86 ± 3.06 ng/mL; mean difference, 3.18 ng/mL; P < .001).
• Syndecan-1 levels demonstrated good diagnostic performance for predicting composite adverse perinatal outcomes in women with PPROM (area under the curve, 0.785; P < .001).
• In women with PPROM, syndecan-1 levels were significantly associated with a higher risk for composite adverse perinatal outcomes (adjusted odds ratio, 1.71; P = .008).

IN PRACTICE:

"[The study] findings highlight SYD-1 [syndecan-1] as a promising biomarker for both diagnostic and prognostic assessment in PPROM," the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Recep Taha Ağaoğlu, Department of Perinatology, Ministry of Health, Etlik City Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. It was published online on July 28, 2025, in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

LIMITATIONS:

The single-centre design may have introduced sample selection bias, limiting the generalisability of the results. Syndecan-1 levels were assessed only in maternal serum, not in the amniotic fluid or placenta. Although the elevation of syndecan-1 levels was mediated by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), this study did not quantify MMP levels.

DISCLOSURES:

This study did not receive any funding. The authors declared having no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.