研究人員使用獲得技術的方法，研究羊膜液體試圖鑒別有早產史的女性是否有分娩出早產胎兒的危險。

研究人員研究了3組患者的羊膜液體：早產患者、早產且羊膜內感染患者、沒有炎癥但是仍然有早產的患者。

“我們發現使用代謝物描述方法，我們有96％的可能鑒別出患者屬于哪個臨床群體。”Roberto Romero醫生指出，他是美國國立兒童健康和人類發育研究院圍產期研究分部(NICHD; Bethesda, MD, USA)的主任，也是這個項目的主要研究人員。“在不同亞類的人群之中進行的、樣本數量更大的第二項研究，業已證實我們方法的十分有效。迄今為止，我們還從沒有如此精確方法來預測早產進程。”

這項研究結果在2005年2月10日Reno(NV,USA)舉行的母嬰醫學學會科學年會上進行了報道。Metabolon公司(Research Triangle Park, NC, USA)一直致力于研究蛻變中間產物來發現生物指標，這是發現和開發藥物和疾病早期診斷的強有力的新方法。

Megabolon總裁兼首席執行官John Ryals說：“我們成功描繪出羊水液體蛻變中間產物，鑒別出關鍵生物學指標，將有助于研究人員開發出確定早產危險的工具。”
 
 
Predicting Preterm Babies
 
Using a proprietary technology platform, researchers have profiled the amniotic fluid called metabolome in order to identify which women who have experienced preterm labor are also at risk of delivering a preterm baby.

The researchers studied the amniotic fluid of three groups of patients: those with preterm labor who delivered at term, those with intra-amniotic inflammation who had both preterm labor and delivery, and those with no sign of inflammation who still had preterm labor and delivery.

“We discovered that by using metabolic profiling, 96% of the time we could identify the patients as belonging to the appropriate clinical group,” noted Roberto Romero, M.D., primary study author and chief of the Perinatology Research Branch of the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD; Bethesda, MD, USA). “A second study, in a different set of patients with a larger sample size, has already confirmed the effectiveness of our method. Until now, we have never had a way to predict the course of preterm labor with such accuracy.”

The study results were presented at the annual Scientific Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine on February 10, 2005, in Reno (NV,USA). Metabolon, Inc. (Research Triangle Park, NC, USA) is leading the discovery of biomarkers through the use of metabolomics, a powerful and new scientific approach for the discovery and development of drugs and the early diagnosis of disease.

“Our successful profiling of the amniotic fluid metabolome and the identification of key biomarkers will aid researchers in the development of tools to determine preterm delivery risk,” said John Ryals, president and CEO of Metabolon.