Table I.

 Culture Data for all Samples Analyzed by Zymography for MMP‐2 and MMP‐9 and Real‐Time Polymerase Chain Reaction for MMP‐9

Samples (method of analysis)	Culture resultsa
	Amniotic fluid (%)	Placenta (%)	Fetal spleen–liver (%)
gd 18 Amniotic fluid (zymography)	46/46 (100)	22/22 (100)	21/22 (95.4)
gd 18 Membranes (zymography)	41/41 (100)	38/38 (100)	36/38 (94.7)
gd 18 Membranes (RT‐PCR)	16/16 (100)	14/14 (100)	13/14 (92.8)
gd 21 Membranes (zymography)	ND	19/20 (100)	14/24 (58.3)

ND, not done; RT‐PCR, reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction; MMP, matrix metalloproteinase; gd, gestation day.

^aNumber of positive samples/samples randomly selected for the analyses of this study (%).