The Preliminary Research On The Safety Of Biological Effects Of Diagnostic Ultrasound On Human Villi In Early Pregnancy

Objective: To study deeply the safety of diagnostic ultrasound on human villi during early pregnancy, by observation of the ultrastructure of human villi and the expression of Caspase-3 mRNA in human villi exposed to diagnostic ultrasound.Methods: Sixty-six healthy early pregnant women who had accepted artificial abortion were randomly divided into three groups: normal group without acception of irradiation (n=10), transabdominal ultrasound group (n=30), transvaginal ultrasound group (n=26). The latter two groups were divided into three subgroups: 5min group, 10min group and 15min group according to different irradiation time. The villi after accepting different ways and time of ultrasound irradiation were taken within 12-24h after artifical abortion. The ultrastructures of human villi of thirty-five early pregnant women were observed by TEM (Transmission Electronic Microscopy, TEM) and the relative expression of Caspase-3mRNA in human villi was detected by RT-PCR.Results: 1. There were no ultrastructural changes in 5min group of transabdominal ultrasound, compared with normal group. But in 10min group and 15min group (transabdominal ultrasound group), and different subgroups (transvaginal ultrasound group), compared with normal group, human villi had different ultrastructural changes in different degree: from the swell and exfoliation of surface microvilli of trophocytes, to vacuolization of cytoplasm and karyopyknosis of trophocytes; from a little to severity, from reversible change to irreversible change. The ultrastructural change of transvaginal ultrasound group showed more significantly compared with transabdominal ultrasound group when being exposed to the same irradiation time.2. The expression of Caspase-3 mRNA at transabdominal groups, 10 minutes group and 15 minutes group was different significantly compared with normal group (P<0.05), the difference between 5 minutes groups and normal groups was not existed (P>0.05); The expression of Caspase-3 mRNA in all the subgroups of transvaginal groups had great...