Methods for screening for fetal trisomies

1. A method of screening for a fetal trisomy in a pregnant female subject, the method comprising:

exposing a serum sample obtained from the subject in the first trimester of pregnancy to one or more organic solvents and extracting lipids from the sample;

measuring the level of specific lipids in the extracted lipids by mass spectrographic analysis;

using a computer processor comprising instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to compare data associated with the level of the specific lipids with data associated with the level of lipids known to be indicative of the risk of a fetal trisomy, the data associated with the level of lipids known to be indicative of the risk of a fetal trisomy being held in computer readable memory; and

determining the risk of a fetal trisomy in the subject on the basis of the risk determined by the computer processor.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the subject is determined to have an increased risk of a fetal trisomy, a low or normal risk of a fetal trisomy, and/or the presence or absence of a fetal trisomy.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the fetal trisomy comprises trisomy 21.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method comprises determination of the mass of the specific lipids and/or one or more fragments and/or adducts of the specific lipids.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the specific lipids comprise one or more of a phoshopholipid, a glycerolipid, a glycerophospholipid, a sphingolipid, a ceramide, a sterol, a glycosphingolipid, a dolicol, a lysolipid, a fatty acid, a triacylglyceride, a diacylglycerides, a monacylglycerides, an isoprenoid, a prostanoid, an eicosanoid, a sterol derivatives, a prenol lipid, a saccharolipid, a saturated fatty acid, a long chain saturated fatty acid, an unsaturated fatty acid, a polyunsaturated fatty acid, a long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid, a cholesterol and isomers thereof, a dehydrocholesterol and isomers thereof, a cholesterol esters and isomers thereof, a dehydrocholesterol esters and isomers thereof, a lyso derivative of any of the aforementioned lipid markers, and/or a fragment of any of the aforementioned lipid markers.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein one or more of the specific lipids comprise a lipid with one or more ions with the following assigned m/z: 703.5580, 369.3491, 367.3312, 680.5953, 687.5651, 445.3648, 445.3633, 727.5567, 429.3706, 1202.3250, 431.3875, 429.3726, 844.6007, 688.5950, 890.7703, 1276.3440, 711.5619, 1128.3140, 670.6080, and/or one or more of the aforementioned lipid markers with a mass tolerance of +/−20 ppm, and/or a substantially similar m/z.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein one or more specific lipids comprise a lipid with one or more ions with the following assigned m/z: 340.3576, 355.2511, 363.2531, 390.7783, 399.3453, 404.7929, 407.2269, 408.3136, 427.3771, 429.2121, 447.3448, 447.3460, 461.3620, 469.3597, 471.4063, 473.3184; 478.3545, 481.3239; 489.4134, 506.4412, 530.5135, 544.5071, 551.5172, 555.4646, 558.5448, 568.4784, 579.4305, 603.4949, 604.5660, 607.5640, 618.5444, 626.4976, 640.5345, 640.5699, 647.5577, 676.4879, 684.5594, 700.5542, 728.5875, 740.5176, 744.5807, 772.6135, 780.5458, 788.6118, 798.5637, 817.5510, 816.6401, 820.5947, 826.5947, 832.6303, 834.5978, 850.5523, 860.6632, 864.5363, 876.6591, 902.5855, 904.6889, 904.6932, 920.6888, 928.5873, 948.7143, 964.7115, 992.7408, 1008.7339, 1036.7696, 1052.7680, 1078.9686, 670.6080, and/or one or more of the aforementioned lipid markers with a mass tolerance of +/−20 ppm, and/or a substantially similar m/z.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method comprises transferring the data associated with the levels of the specific lipids over the internet to the computer processor.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method is used to identify the presence or absence of a fetal trisomy, to identify a fetal trisomy in the subject, to exclude the presence of a fetal trisomy in the subject, to identify an increased risk of a fetal trisomy, and/or to identify a low or normal risk of a fetal trisomy.

10. A method of determining the risk of a pregnant female subject carrying a fetus with a trisomy, the method comprising:

exposing a serum sample obtained from the subject in the first trimester of pregnancy to one or more organic solvents and extracting lipids from the sample;

measuring the level of specific lipids in the extracted lipids by mass spectrographic analysis;

using a computer processor comprising instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to compare data associated with the level of the specific lipids with data associated with the level of lipids known to be indicative of the risk of a fetal trisomy, the data associated with the level of lipids known to be indicative of the risk of a fetal trisomy being held in computer readable memory;

and

determining the risk of the subject carrying a fetus with a trisomy on the basis of the risk determined by the computer processor.