Russian scientists are developing a new method of prenatal diagnosis of fetal anomalies
Russian neuroscientists from Tomsk State University have begun to develop new prenatal testthat will help identify malformations of the central nervous system of the fetus during the mother’s pregnancy.
They search for biomarkers of brain damage in fetuses with a gestational age older than 20 weeks. This approach is a new one; it was not possible to determine such anomalies before.
In particular, it is planned to identify and analyze the amount of myelin - a special substance that makes up the shells of nerve fibers.
This will make it possible to determine in children long before the birth of severe diseases of the central nervous system, cognitive disorders and even autism.
In many ways, these anomalies are genetic and chromosomal in nature, and people in white coats, no matter how highly qualified they are, have no opportunity to influence the formation of defects. But to learn to identify them before the child is born, it is very important at least because not all parents are ready to accept a sick baby.
A prototype of a special test for mapping myelin already exists. It passes tests and while shows high accuracy and efficiency. Now they have begun to introduce the technique only in some clinics of the country as an experimental one, with its help, in particular, they investigate the state of nerve fibers in people who have suffered a stroke.
The method was already tested a year ago on the children of the first years of life, this made it possible to supplement the knowledge base with new data on the process of myelination of nerve fibers in children. Studies on the creation of a prenatal test for myelin will last for four years. After that, it is planned to introduce it into a screening that is compulsory for all expectant mothers, which today makes it possible to identify some chromosomal abnormalities in the early stages, such as Down syndrome, Turner, Pattau.
It is also believed that this technique will help to find the true causes of mental retardation and autism in children whose disorders were diagnosed after birth.
