%0 Journal Article %T Increased Apoptosis in Chorionic Trophoblasts of Human Fetal Membranes with Labor at Term %A Hassan M. Harirah %A Mostafa A. Borahay %A Wahidu Zaman %A Mahmoud S. Ahmed %A Ibrahim G. Hager %A Gary D. V. Hankins %J International Journal of Clinical Medicine %P 136-142 %@ 2158-2882 %D 2012 %I Scientific Research Publishing %R 10.4236/ijcm.2012.32027 %X Objective: To determine the association of apoptosis in the layers of human fetal membranes distal to rupture site with labor at term. Study Design: Fetal membranes were collected from elective cesarean sections (n = 8) and spontaneous vaginal deliveries (n = 8) at term. The extent of apoptosis within fetal membrane layers was determined using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase deoxy-UTP-nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay and western blots for pro-apoptotic active caspase-3 and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2. Results: Apoptotic index in chorionic trophoblasts of membranes distal to rupture site obtained after vaginal delivery was 3-fold higher than those obtained from elective cesarean (11.57% ¡À 4.98% and 4.05% ¡À 2.4% respectively; p = 0.012). The choriodecidua layers after vaginal deliveries had higher expression of the pro-apoptotic active caspase-3 and less expression of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 than those obtained from elective cesarean sections. Conclusions: Labor at term is associated with increased apoptosis in chorionic trophoblast cells of human fetal membranes distal to rupture site. %K Apoptosis %K Membranes %K Chorion %K Trophoblasts %K Labor %U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=17884