Logical Basis of Cerebrospinal Fluid and Serum S-100B Protein Measurement in Pregnant Women to Detect any Possible Cerebral Damage

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to consider logical basis of serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) S100B measurement in pregnant females to detect any cerebral damage. STUDY DESIGN: CSF and serum samples from 14 pregnant patients (age: 20-34 years) were obtained during spinal anesthetic procedure of cesarean section. The serum samples from 9 non-pregnant patients (22–36 years) without an organic brain disease were used as normative data. S-100B levels in serum and CSF samples were measured with electrochemiluminescence immunoassay method. The CSF and blood serum levels of pregnants and blood serum levels of pregnant and nonpregnant females were compared using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U-tests. RESULTS: Serum S100B protein levels of pregnant females were significantly higher [0.66±0.06 ng/ml] than those observed in [0.06±0.00 ng/ml] nonpregnant females (p<.0001). There was a significant difference between the S100B protein levels of CSF and blood serum (p<0.05) in pregnant females. However the correlation between these two levels was insignificant (p=0.473). CSF S100B levels of pregnant subjcets were significantly higher than the serum levels of pregnant and nonpregnant subjects (p