Spontaneous preterm birth significantly contributes to the overall neonatal morbidity associated with preterm deliveries. Nearly 50% of cases are associated with microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity followed by an inflammatory response. Robust diagnostic tools for neonates jeopardized by infection and inflammation may thus decrease the overall neonatal morbidity substantially. Amniotic fluid retrieved during labor retains fetal and pregnancy-related protein fingerprint and its sampling does not place any unwanted stress on women. Using exploratory and targeted methods we analyzed proteomes of amniotic fluid sampled at the end of spontaneous preterm labor prior to delivery from women with and without infection and inflammation. Exploratory data indicated several amniotic fluid proteins to be associated with infectious-inflammatory complications in spontaneous preterm birth. LC-SRM analysis subsequently verified statistically significant changes in lipocalin-1 (P = 0.047 and AUC = 0.67, P = 0.046), glycodelin (P = 0.013 and AUC = 0.73, P = 0.013), and nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (P = 0.018 and AUC = 0.71, P = 0.01).

Biomedical Research Center University Hospital Hradec Kralove Sokolska 581 50005 Hradec Kralove Czech Republic

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove Charles University Prague Simkova 870 50005 Hradec Kralove Czech Republic

Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine and Perinatal Research Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston 301 University Boulevard MRB 11 138 Galveston TX 77555 USA

Institute of Molecular Pathology Faculty of Military Health Sciences University of Defence Trebesska 1575 50001 Hradec Kralove Czech Republic

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