A1: CORE SUPPORT: BIOL ELECTRON MICROSCOPE, BIOTECH MOLEC BIOL, COMPUTER NETWORK

早产是少数人的主要健康问题 这个国家的人口。他们有更大的发病率， 早产，与社会经济地位无关， 产前护理心理社会成本很高，但护理成本 仅新生儿就超过50亿美元。的主要原因 非裔美国人的早产是指 胎膜早破宫内感染 一些但不是所有这些出生的原因，以及其他特发性 机制必须发生。这个提议的目的是。寻求 局部结缔组织的变化之前，破裂的 人类胎儿膜，并确定是否程度 这种变化与不同程度的过早 在夏威夷的四个不同的种族群体中破裂和出生： 非裔美国人夏威夷人菲律宾人和高加索人第一 具体目标是定位胎儿结缔组织的变化 通过定量关键基因的表达， 胶原溶解酶，一种激活剂和一种激素， 刺激该系统在四个区域的表达， 胎盘的位置。一个形态上不同的区域， 将通过定量图像分析寻找破裂部位， 酶的定量原位杂交组织化学， 参与细胞周围胶原溶解的激活剂和激素。 的 第二个具体目标将量化这些局部连接 组织的变化，在四个种族群体在夏威夷，并将这些与 早产早产破裂的发生率分别为 膜在这些群体中。迄今为止还没有任何研究 使用来自不同种族妇女的胎膜 团体或试图科学地解释显着的 早产的差异是由于早产的早产破裂 这些膜。

Preterm delivery is a major health problem in the minority populations in this country. They have' a greater incidence of preterm birth, which is not related to socioeconomic status or prenatal care. The psychosocial costs are high, but the cost in care to the newborns alone is more than $5 billion. The major cause of preterm birth in the Afro-American population is the preterm premature rupture of the fetal membranes. Intrauterine infection is a cause for some but not all of these births, and other idiopathic mechanisms must occur. The goal of this proposal is. to seek localized connective tissue changes preceding the rupture of the human fetal membranes and to determine whether the degree of such changes is related to the differing degrees of premature rupture and birth in four different ethnic groups in Hawaii: Afro-American, Hawaiian, Filipino and Caucasian. The first specific aim is to locaIize connective tissue changes in the fetal membranes by quantitating the gene expression of key collagenolytic enzymes, an activator and a hormone involved in stimulating expression of this system in four zones relative to the position of the placenta. A morphologically distinct zone near the rupture site will be sought by quantitative image analysis and quantitative in situ hybridization histochemistry for the enzymes, activator and hormone involved in pericellular collagenolysis. The second specific aim will quantitate these localized connective tissue changes in four ethnic groups in Hawaii and relate these to the respective incidence of preterm premature rupture of the membranes in these groups. There have been no studies to date using fetal membranes from women representing different ethnic groups or attempts to scientifically explain the remarkable differences in preterm birth due to the preterm premature rupture of these membranes.