Abstract:

Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is a common pregnancy complication and a major cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. The adverse effects of FGR persist throughout the entire lifespan would increase the risk of delayed neurological development, chronic metabolic diseases, and mortality. At present, in clinic, the detection rate of prenatal diagnosis of FGR fetuses is low. Improving detection and effective monitoring of progression is critical, and there is an urgent need to find better diagnostic methods for early identifying pregnancies at high-risk, guiding management and intervention. As a relatively non-invasive detection method, biomarkers have shown great potential in early prediction of FGR, and increasing biomarkers have been found. This review summarizes the research progress of maternal peripheral blood molecular biomarkers (proteins, metabolites or ribonucleic acid) in early diagnosing FGR, and elaborates the possible mechanism of their involvement in the occurrence and development of FGR, in order to provide evidence for clinicians to identify and evaluate the prognosis of FGR.

Key words: fetal growth restriction, screening, molecular biomarkers