NEWSROOM

There are 15 million preterm births every year worldwide; premature birth is among the most common causes of neonatal deaths. The domestic biotechnology initiative, which started to work to prevent this picture, developed an early diagnosis kit that predicts the risks in pregnancy.

*** This release is originally published in Turkish.
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ISTANBUL (TR) - According to the Microbiome and Preterm Birth research published in Nature magazine, one of the leading publications of the scientific world, approximately 15 million preterm births occur every year before 37 weeks of gestation worldwide. It is seen that the prevalence of preterm birth exceeds 10% worldwide. The research also reveals that microbiome analysis can benefit the prediction of preterm birth risk. This proposition in the field of biotechnology by carrying voice came from Turkey, an important move as well. Özkan Ufuk Nalbantoğlu, CTO of the local biotechnology initiative ENBIOSIS, stated that kits that accurately detect the risk of preterm birth with microbiome samples taken in the first 3 months of pregnancy have been developed and that they will be introduced upon the conclusion of clinical studies conducted in three different centers.

Premature birth and other health risks can be detected in the first 3 months of pregnancy

Speaking about the details of the preterm birth diagnosis kit, Özkan Ufuk Nalbantoğlu said, “Currently, we can accurately detect the risk of preterm birth with the microbiome samples taken in the first 3 months of pregnancy. We are at the stage of testing this technology in the field in clinical studies conducted by ENBIOSIS in three different centers. At the same time, we continue to carry out diagnostic technologies that can predict other pregnancy risks through these clinical studies. Thanks to the newly developed technology, many risks can be predicted in the early stages of pregnancy by analyzing microbial DNA using only one swab sample.

Preterm birth is the second most common cause of neonatal death

Özkan Ufuk Nalbantoğlu stated that identifying risks in the early period and preventing them with proper health management during pregnancy is of great importance for maternal and child health and said, “While premature birth is the second most common cause of neonatal death worldwide, it is the most common cause of infant deaths in middle and high income countries. Heart diseases, neurological problems, intestinal diseases and many other chronic problems that can be brought with by preterm birth can continue from early childhood to adolescence and adulthood. New scientific developments show that the maternal microbiome undergoes various changes during pregnancy, these differentiations give important signals about the health problems that may arise during pregnancy. In other words, it is possible to reveal many risks that will adversely affect maternal and child health such as the high risk of preterm birth at the beginning of the pregnancy process, gestational diabetes and gestational hypertension.”.