Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Oct;20(5):497-512.
doi: 10.1177/1099800418791028. Epub 2018 Aug 1.

Oxidative Stress and Preterm Birth: An Integrative Review

Tiffany A Moore  1 , Iman M Ahmad  2 , Matthew C Zimmerman  3
Affiliations
Review

Oxidative Stress and Preterm Birth: An Integrative Review

Tiffany A Moore et al. Biol Res Nurs. 2018 Oct.

Abstract

Background: A variety of methods and measures have been used to quantify oxidative stress in clinical studies related to preterm birth (PTB), and studies have reported conflicting findings. No integrative reviews have been conducted.

Objective: To describe specific molecules used as markers of oxidative stress and methods to measure these molecules and to review the literature for associations between oxidative stress and PTB specific to these molecules.

Method: Systematic literature searches were conducted in June 2015 and updated in 2017 in databases from the Biomedical Reference Collection: Basic Edition, including MEDLINE and clinicaltrials.gov . Articles were included if they described original research published after 2009 and compared PTB or preterm premature rupture of membranes with term birth (TB).

Results: Abstracts ( n = 3,107) were reviewed for inclusion/exclusion criteria. Of these, 308 were full-text reviewed, and 30 articles were included in this review. All were identified as nonexperimental. The most common measurements of oxidative stress were quantification of total oxidant or antioxidant status or lipid peroxidation. Studies measuring reactive oxygen species or by-products of oxidative stress reported higher levels of these molecules for preterm specimens compared to TB specimens. Studies measuring antioxidants reported lower levels for these molecules in PTB specimens. Few of the studies had inconclusive findings.

Discussion: Findings suggest that an imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants may be associated with PTB. The measurements and findings to date limit interpretation and understanding. Research using multidimensional methods and multidisciplinary teams are necessary to advance research and practice.

Keywords: antioxidants; premature birth; reactive oxygen species.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow diagram of literature selection and review process.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Abiaka C., Machado L. (2012). Nitric oxide and antioxidant enzymes in venous and cord blood of late preterm and term Omani mothers. Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal, 12, 300–305. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alexandre-Gouabau M., Courant F., Moyon T., Küster A., Le Gall G., Tea I.…Darmaun D. (2013). Maternal and cord blood LC-HRMS metabolomics reveal alterations in energy and polyamine metabolism, and oxidative stress in very-low birth weight infants. Journal of Proteome Research, 12, 2764–2778. doi:10.1021/pr400122v - PubMed
    1. Asemi Z., Samimi M., Tabassi Z., Shakeri H., Esmaillzadeh A. (2013). Vitamin D supplementation affects serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, insulin resistance, and biomarkers of oxidative stress in pregnant women. Journal of Nutrition, 143, 1432–1438. doi:10.3945/jn.113.177550 - PubMed
    1. Ayala A., Muñoz M. F., Argüelles S. (2014). Lipid peroxidation: Production, metabolism, and signaling mechanisms of malondialdehyde and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, 2014, 360438 doi:10.1155/2014/360438 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Babizhayev M. A. (1988). The biphasic effect of calcium on lipid peroxidation. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 266, 446–451. - PubMed

Publication types