Md Zaryab Ahmad

Kurnool Medical College, Dr. NTR University,
India

Abstract Title: Maternal Risk Factors Contributing to Down Syndrome and associated complications: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis, with Emerging non-invasive biomarkers approaches for prenatal risk stratification.

Biography:

Md Zaryab Ahmad is currently in his final year of MBBS at the age of 21 enrolled in Kurnool medical college, Dr NTR university of health sciences, India. He is a medical researcher and student who has presented his various studies in national level conferences and received recognition across the country. He is serving in many Indian medical organisations (IMA-MSN, GAIMS and MEDUSANE) as a researcher and leader encouraging and guiding medical students.

Research Interest:

Down syndrome (DS) is a major chromosomal anomaly leading to neonatal morbidity. Despite advancements in prenatal screening, early risk identification for Down syndrome remains limited in resource-constrained regions around the globe. This study aims to systematically evaluate maternal risk factors associated with DS and to narratively synthesise and review the emerging non-invasive biomarkers of prenatal risk stratification. A systematic search was conducted (PubMed, MEDLINE, and Cochrane), following PRISMA guidelines. PICO framework defines: Pregnant women or neonates with DS as population, modifiable maternal factors as exposure, pregnant women without such exposures as comparator, and incidence or severity of DS due to exposure as outcome. Observational studies and reviews were included and were assessed for quality and risk of bias. Reported receiver operating characteristic (ROC) area under the curve (AUC) values from individual studies were summarised to evaluate the potential antenatal risk stratification ability of the biomarkers. Thirty studies met the inclusion criteria, and 10 were used in the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis by random-effects model generated pooled OR and 95% CI for modifiable maternal factors which significantly increased the risk of DS (pooled OR 2.38; 95% CI 1.43–3.97), with maternal age bearing a threefold increased risk (pooled OR 3.25). Prenatal smoking and alcohol consumption also doubled the odds (pooled OR 2.39; p = 0.02). Further emerging non-invasive biomarkers, including autoantibodies, sphingolipids, and chemokines, demonstrated promising antenatal risk identification ability (AUC ≥ 0.70). Our findings signify the role of maternal risk factor assessment in the occurrence and severity of DS and underscores the potential of non-invasive biomarkers for prenatal risk identification of DS risk pregnancies.