Presence of cell-free fetal circRNA in maternal plasma

INTRODUCTION: There is an urgent need to find novel stable cell-free fetal (cff-) RNA in the maternal circulation to facilitate the advance of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) to more effectively avoid birth defects. METHODS: CircRNA microarray was used to detect the cff-circRNA in plasma. RESULTS: There were cff-circRNAs from the fetus in the peripheral blood of pregnant women and they persisted even until at least 24 h after delivery. In addition, we found that cff-circRNA might have a specific expression pattern in gestational disease. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated the presence of cff-circRNA in the maternal circulation, which may shed new light on the development of NIPT.