Early fetal gender determination using convention nested PCR assay of maternal serum: New technologies and clinical applications in Nasiriya province.

Abstract

This work was carried out in the cancer research unit laboratories, college of medicine, Thi-Qar University, Iraq. This study demonstrates that a reliable, non-invasive sex determination can be achieved by PCR analysis of maternal serum during the first trimester of pregnancy. In contrary to the risks of invasive methods that affect both mother and fetus, applying cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) is proven highly effective with lower risk. One of the applications of prenatal diagnosis is fetal gender determination, which is important in fetuses at risk of sex-linked genetic diseases. In such cases by obtaining the basic information of the gender, necessary time management can be taken in therapeutic to significantly reduce the necessity of applying the invasive methods. The aim of this study was to use simple multiplex PCR protocol of fetal gender at early stage of gestation applying a multiplex PCR amplification of the ATL1 locus in the FMR1 gene located on the long arm of X-chromosome5 and the Y-chromosome-specific sequence.

A total of 52 pregnant women participated in this study, The ATL1-specific sequences were detected in all 52 serum specimens, while the Y-chromosome-specific fragment were generated in 23 of serum samples. The Y-specific fragment was not detected in any of the 29 serum samples of serum.