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Term Human Fetal Membranes Have a Weak Zone Overlying the Lower Uterine Pole and Cervix Before Onset of Labor¹

Departments of Pediatrics³ Reproductive Biology,⁴ MetroHealth Medical Center; Department of Pathology,⁵ University Hospitals of Cleveland and School of Medicine; and Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,⁶ Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44109

The etiology of fetal membrane (FM) rupture is unknown. A hypothesis that the FM weakens by a process of collagen remodeling and apoptosis to facilitate rupture has been proposed. Human FMs reportedly exhibit a zone of altered histology, postulated to be the FM rupture site, but concomitant FM weakness has not been demonstrated. We hypothesized that a discrete zone of FM with marked weakness, histological change, and evidence of remodeling and apoptosis, develops in late gestation in the FM overlying the cervix. FM tissue from women undergoing prelabor cesarean delivery were perioperatively marked to identify the FM overlying the cervix, cut with a procedure that facilitates remapping the rupture strength of FM pieces to their former location and orientation on a three-dimensional model, and tested for strength. A 10-cm FM zone centered at the cervical mark was compared with the remaining FM. Mean rupture strength within the cervical zone was 55% of the remaining FM. The cervical zone also exhibited increased MMP-9 protein, decreased tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-3 (TIMP-3) protein, and increased PARP cleavage coincident with the previously reported zone of altered histology. A discrete zone of weakness is present in term prelabor FMs overlying the cervix and has biochemical characteristics consistent with tissue remodeling and apoptosis.

¹ This study was supported in part by National Institutes of Health grant HD39159 and HD48467 to J.J.M.

² Correspondence: J.J. Moore, Division of Neonatology, MetroHealth Medical Center, 2500 MetroHealth Drive, Cleveland, OH 44109. FAX: 216 778 3252; jmoore{at}metrohealth.org

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