Table of Contents
What is alpha-fetoprotein maternal serum?
What Is Maternal Serum Alpha-Fetoprotein? Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a protein that is produced by your baby as he develops during your pregnancy. Although it’s the baby who produces AFP, it becomes present in the mother’s bloodstream as well. That’s why it’s called a maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein test.
What is AFP in biology?
Alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP) is a product of specific fetal tissues and of neoplastic cells of hepatocyte or germ cell origin in adults. This protein belongs to a gene family that is phylogenetically most closely related to serum albumin.
When is AFP test in pregnancy?
The AFP test is a simple blood test where blood is drawn from a vein and sent to a lab. Results usually take two weeks or less. Since the timing of this test is crucial, it is usually done between the 15th and 20th weeks of pregnancy.
How is Mother AFP calculated?
If the median AFP result at 16 weeks of gestation is 30 ng/mL and a pregnant woman’s AFP result at that same gestational age is 60 ng/mL, then her MoM is equal to 60/30 = 2.0. In other words, her AFP result is 2 times higher than median.
What is a normal AFP level in pregnancy?
Alpha-fetoprotein levels in men and non-pregnant women vary for age and race but mostly range from 0 ng/ml to 40 ng/ml. Maternal AFP levels in pregnancy start to rise from about 14th week of gestation up until about 32 weeks gestation. Between week 15 and 20 weeks, levels usually range between 10 ng/ml to 150 ng/ml.
How does alpha-fetoprotein test work?
You do a maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein test when you’re about 4 months pregnant. A technician uses a needle to take a small sample of blood from a vein in your hand or arm. You may feel a small skin prick and have a little bruising or bleeding where the needle goes in. Then they’ll send your blood to the lab.
What is a normal AFP serum level in pregnancy?
Results are given in nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL). Here is the normal range: For adults: less than 40 ng/mL. At 15 to 21 weeks’ gestation: 10 to 150 ng/mL.
How do you read AFP in pregnancy?
A positive test with a high AFP suggests a birth defect like spina bifida. That’s typically a result of 2.5 times or more than the “average” level of AFP you’d expect to see at that point in your pregnancy. A positive test with low AFP could mean a problem like Down syndrome or Edwards syndrome.
What is normal AFP MoM in pregnancy?
The AFP concentration in maternal serum rises throughout pregnancy, from the nonpregnancy level of 0.2 ng/mL to about 250 ng/mL at 32 weeks gestation. If the fetus has an open neural tube defect (NTD), AFP is thought to leak directly into the amniotic fluid causing unexpectedly high concentrations of AFP.
What is the normal range for AFP MoM in pregnancy?
The AFP concentration in maternal serum rises throughout pregnancy, from the nonpregnancy level of 0.2 ng/mL to about 250 ng/mL at 32 weeks gestation.
What is normal AFP mom in pregnancy?
What causes elevated alpha-fetoprotein in pregnancy?
Causes of elevated AFP are: Neural Tube Defects: Neural tube defects include both spina bifida (improper closure of the fetal spine) and anencephaly (improper closure of the fetal skull). Individuals with spina bifida can have variable problems as a result of the birth defect.
What causes high levels of alpha fetoprotein?
Hepatocellular carcinoma
a lump in the breast or armpit,
What is a high level of AFP in pregnancy?
Pregnant women carrying babies with neural tube defects may have high levels of AFP in both the bloodstream, urine, and in the amniotic fluid. A neural tube defect is an abnormal fetal brain or spinal cord that is caused by folic acid deficiency during pregnancy. Examples of these birth defects include spina bifida and anencephaly.
What is alpha fetoprotein level?
Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a plasma protein produced by the embryonic yolk sac and the fetal liver. AFP levels in serum, amniotic fluid, and urine functions as a screening test for congenital disabilities, chromosomal abnormalities, as well as some other adult occurring tumors and pathologies.