Quantification of immunoglobulin A in chorioamniotic membrane of patients with premature rupture of membranes

Objective: The proposal was to study the presence of immunoglobulin A (IgA) in the chorioamniotic membrane of healthy postpartum women with premature rupture of the chorioamniotic membrane (PROM). Method: A single radial immunodiffusion technique was used to quantify the IgA in the chorioamniotic membrane tissues. Results: The level of IgA was approximately 10 times higher in patients whose membranes had been ruptured for > 10 h (24.58 mg/dl). These results were compared with those of a previously published study where the mean of amount of IgA was 2.52 mg/dl in membranes of patients with rupture < 10 h. Our results show that IgA began to rise after 10–15 h following rupture. Conclusion: Although more studies need to be performed our data indicate that the increasing IgA in our patients after 10 h of latency probably represents the beginning of an ascending colonization of bacteria which could be the source of future infection.