A new study published in BMC Medicine has shown for the first time that a simple blood test from the mother could accurately predict how well a baby’s lungs are developing before birth.
A new study published in BMC Medicine has shown for the first time that a simple blood test from the mother could accurately predict how well a baby’s lungs are developing before birth.
The research, led by Dr Sean Carter from the Women and Infants Research Foundation (WIRF), in collaboration with the National University of Singapore and Tohoku University Hospital (Japan), demonstrated that fragments of genetic material known as cell-free RNA (cfRNA) – which circulate in the mother’s bloodstream – can reveal the maturity of a baby’s lungs.
This discovery could pave the way for a minimally invasive, cost-effective tool to help doctors decide whether a mother at risk of preterm birth should receive steroid treatment to speed up lung development.
Dr Carter said that for decades, one of the greatest challenges in perinatal medicine has been finding a safe way to measure fetal development in real time.
“Our study shows that cfRNA analysis could provide doctors with a powerful new tool to assess lung maturity without resorting to invasive procedures or guesswork,” Dr Carter said.
Every year, millions of women at risk of preterm delivery are given antenatal steroids to help their baby’s lungs mature. While lifesaving in many cases, the treatment is often used broadly because there has been no reliable way to measure whether an individual baby actually needs it. Unnecessary or repeated steroid use may carry risks for both mother and child.
By analysing cfRNA in maternal blood samples, the study team was able to distinguish between immature and mature lungs with remarkable accuracy in both animal models and human pregnancy samples. The test performed strongly whether lung maturity occurred naturally or was induced by steroid treatment.
The findings suggest that cfRNA testing could one day become a rapid bedside tool for obstetricians, guiding whether steroids should be given – and whether repeat courses are necessary.
Beyond clinical use, the approach also provides researchers with a new way to study how fetal lungs and other organs develop at a molecular level.
“This is proof-of-principle work, but it shows the huge potential of cfRNA as a window into fetal health,” Dr Carter said.
“With further development, we could see a future where pregnancy care is more personalised, safer, and better informed.”
The team emphasises that larger clinical studies are now needed to validate the test in diverse patient groups and to explore how it could be integrated into routine care.
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