When you expect a baby, there is a lot to think about. But for millions of parents around the world, their schedule planning takes unexpectedly short. Premature birth – defined as a tradition before 37 weeks – is not just an early arrival. It is the main cause of death in newborns and can lead to long -term health issues, such as breathing problems, developmental delays and learning difficulties.
What if there was a way to know, months in advance, if pregnancy is in danger of delivering early?
A New study published in PLOS Medicine In April 2025 he says he could now be possible. Researchers have discovered a way to analyze DNA fragments of pregnant blood collected during ordinary non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT)-to predict premature birth with amazing accuracy.
Premature birth (PTB) affects about 1 in 9 pregnancies worldwide. This is about 11% of all births. And while advances in neonatal care have improved the results for many premature babies, premature tradition still poses significant risks. Babies born very soon may face:
- Respiratory discomfort
- Low birth weight
- Dietary difficulties
- Vision or hearing problems
- Developmental delays
It is not just babies at risk-birth of preterm is also linked to health complications for the parent of birth and is responsible for more than one third of all pregnancy-related deaths.
What makes premature birth is particularly difficult is that it is incredibly difficult to predict. While agents such as age, previous premature delivery or multiple transfer can increase the risk, most parents who deliver early have no obvious warning signs.
What is DNA without cells?
If you are pregnant recently, you may have heard (or even pull) a non -invasive prenatal test (NIPT). These tests examine the fragments of DNA that float freely in the blood-known as DNA without cells (CFDNA)-to screen for conditions such as Down Syndrome.
What many people do not realize is that this DNA includes genetic material not only from the baby (in fact from the placenta) but also from the tissues of the pregnant woman. Researchers recently discovered that this “fragment” DNA brings more information than we once thought about.
In this study, scientists investigated whether the analysis of the way DNA is packaged – especially in areas around gene “instigators” (on/off genes switches) – could provide early signs of problems.
Researchers from the South Medical University and cooperation hospitals in China analyzed blood samples of 2,590 pregnant women. Of these, 518 pregnancies ended at spontaneous premature birth, while 2,072 went full term.
Using a technique called “Promotion Profile”, they examined how tight the DNA was wrapped around the nucleosomes in the samples. Think of it as if you are analyzing not only which books are on a shelf, but how easy or difficult it is to open them.
Their theory was simple: in pregnancies intended for premature birth, some genes – especially those related to placenta and immune function – may already behave differently, months before the symptoms occur. And these differences will occur in the CFDNA collected during the usual blood.
To try this, they used mechanical learning to analyze the standards in 228 genes and developed a tool called PTTE (pre -prediction profile promoter).
The results: a test that takes it correctly most of the time
Pterm was able to predict premature birth with strong accuracy. In statistical terms, the “AUC” rating was 0.849 in all groups-this is a way of measuring how well a test separates two results (in this case, premature and full birth). A perfect test would score 1.0, while random conjectures of 0.5.
Pterm could detect pregnancies that are at risk of spontaneous premature birth using blood samples taken between 12 and 28 weeks of pregnancy.
The prediction was particularly strong for very early premature births (35 weeks ago), accurately 86.6%.
Even when the researchers tried to combine PTTE with other known risk factors such as the Body Mass Index (BMI) or the DNA fetus fraction, only the pterm classifier remained the most powerful predictor.
What does this do different from the current premature view?
At the moment, there is no standard blood test to predict spontaneous premature birth. Doctors can monitor the length of the cervix by ultrasound or consider a patient’s history, but these tools are limited and usually enter the game later during pregnancy.
What is revolutionary about this study is that it uses a blood sample that many pregnant people already give any usual genetic examination anyway. There is no new blood. At no additional cost. Just more information from the same blood vial.
If validated in future studies and approved for clinical use, Pterm could be added one day behind the standard NIPT scenes-providing a heads-up to parents and care providers that could require additional monitoring or early intervention.
During pregnancy, DNA in the blood comes mainly from placental cells and immune cells. These cells are constantly turning and as they die, they throw DNA into the bloodstream.
This DNA does not float around the loose – it is packaged in structures called nucleosomes. Depending on the genes that are activated “on” or “off”, the nucleosomes are differently arranged. For example, a gene that is active will have more open space around the area of ​​its promoter, while a silent gene is tighter.
With the sequence of CFDNA and examining how densely accumulates around these promoter areas, scientists can conclude which genes are active on the placenta or immune system – and detecting problems before appearing on an ultrasound.
In pregnancies that ended early, the researchers noticed specific templates: genes involved in inflammation, hormone signaling (such as oxytocin) and placenta function had a separate promoter profile.
What are the possible benefits of this test?
If this test becomes part of the standard prenatal care, it could offer:
- Early intervention: More time for implementing strategies such as progesterone therapy, cerclage cervical or closest monitoring.
- Personalized care: Women without previous risk factors could be identified and supported.
- Better results: The previous detection comes the ability to improve neonatal results through preventive measures or design for delivery to high level care centers.
The study is a huge step forward, but it is not without restriction.
- Population: The investigation was conducted entirely in China. More studies are needed to see how well PTTERM is performed in different ethnicities and healthcare systems.
- Synchronization: The test window is between 12 and 28 weeks, but researchers do not find the best time to view. The previous detection may be possible with further study.
- Biological complexity: Premature birth is not caused by a single thing. It can result from infection, inflammation, placental problems and much more. While Pterm captures the standards that are common in many cases, it may not catch all the causes.
Still, the potential is huge and future versions of PTTERM could be even more accurate by combining promoter data with other “OMIC” data such as RNA or protein levels.
This study offers hope that premature birth, one of the most unpredictable and dangerous complications of pregnancy, could become more predictable – thanks to information already hidden in a standard blood test.
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