1,720,965 research outputs found
Animal Models of Fetal Programming: Focus on Chronic Maternal Stress During Pregnancy and Neurodevelopment
No full textAnimal models of fetal programming contribute in three synergistic ways to understanding and treating human diseases or predispositions to diseases, which emerge from in utero insults leading to fetal programming. Firstly, animal models serve to confirm observationsderived in epidemiological studies. Secondly, animal models provide insights into mechanisms and render novel putative biomarkers of various effects of fetal programming that are relevant for early identification of affected individuals, children and adults. Thirdly, animal models permit testing of therapeutic interventions before they are translated into clinical intervention studies.Fil: Frasch, Martin Gerbert. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Schulkin, Jay A.. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Metz, Gerlinde A. S.. University of Lethbridge; CanadáFil: Antonelli, Marta Cristina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin
Congenital cerebral palsy, child sex and parent cardiovascular risk.
Full text linkOBJECTIVE:Genes associated with cardiovascular disease may also be risk factors for congenital cerebral palsy (CP) and these associations may be modified by sex, since there is an increased risk of CP in male children. We investigated the association between CP of the child with cardiovascular disease in parents, taking sex of the child into consideration. METHODS:All parents of non-adopted singletons born in Denmark between 1973 and 2003 were included. Parents of a child with CP, confirmed by the Danish National CP registry, were considered exposed. Cox proportional hazards regressions were used to model risk of cardiovascular outcomes for exposed parents compared to all other parents beginning at the child's 10(th) birthday. RESULTS:We identified 733,730 mothers and 666,652 fathers among whom 1,592 and 1,484, respectively, had a child with CP. The mean age for mothers at end of follow up was 50 ± 8 years. After adjustment for maternal age, parental education, child's sex, child's residence, child being small for gestational age and maternal hypertensive disorder during pregnancy, mothers of CP male children had an excess risk of cardiovascular disease (HR: 1.52, 95% CI: 1.16-2.00), attributable mostly to an increased incidence of hypertension and cerebrovascular disease. After additional adjustment for preterm birth, the association was markedly attenuated for cardiovascular disease (1.34, 95%CI: 1.02 - 1.76), became nonsignificant for hypertension, but remained significant for cerebrovascular disease (HR: 2.73, 95% CI: 1.45- 5.12). There was no increased risk of cardiovascular events in mothers of female CP children, or fathers of CP children of any sex. CONCLUSIONS:Women that have a male child with CP are at increased risk for premature cardiovascular disease. Part of this association may be related to risk factors for preterm births
Effects of earthquake on perinatal outcomes: A Chilean register-based study
No full textNatural disasters increase the level population stress, including pregnant women, who can experience prenatal maternal stress, affecting the fetus and triggering perinatal complications, such as low birth weight, smaller head circumference, etc. However, little is known about effects of earthquake on perinatal outcomes.To evaluate the effect of earthquake occurred on February 27, 2010 and perinatal outcomes of Chilean pregnant women, and to examine these effects by timing of exposure during pregnancy and newborn gender.A register-based study was performed using data collected from women who had a vaginal delivery in a large private health center in Santiago, Chile, during 2009 and 2010. The study population was categorized according to exposure to earthquake and timing during gestation. Primary perinatal outcomes were gestational age at birth, birth weight, length and head circumference. Analyses adjusted for gender, gestational age at exposure, parity, maternal age and income.A total of 1,966 eligible vaginal deliveries occurred during 2009 and 2,110 in 2010. Birth weight was not affected by the trimester of exposure; however, length, head circumference and gestational age at birth were significantly different according to trimester of exposure and gender of newborn. In multivariable analysis, newborns were shorter by 2 mm, 5 mm and 4.5 mm, if they were exposed during their first, second and third trimester, respectively. Furthermore, newborns had a smaller head circumference by 1.2 mm and 1.5 mm if they were exposed during first and second trimester of gestation.In this cohort, exposure to the February 2010 earthquake resulted in earlier delivery and reduced length and head circumference in the offspring. This association varied according to trimester of exposure and fetal gender. Health workers should include exposed to high levels of stress associated with natural disasters when assessing pregnancy risk factors
Miscarriage, preterm delivery, and stillbirth: Large variations in rates within a cohort of Australian women
No full textObjectives: We aimed to use simple clinical questions to group women and provide their specific rates of miscarriage, preterm delivery, and stillbirth for reference. Further, our purpose was to describe who has experienced particularly low or high rates of each event. Methods: Data were collected as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, a national prospective cohort. Reproductive histories were obtained from 5806 women aged 31-36 years in 2009, who had self-reported an outcome for one or more pregnancy. Age at first birth, number of live births, smoking status, fertility problems, use of in vitro fertilisation (IVF), education and physical activity were the variables that best separated women into groups for calculating the rates of miscarriage, preterm delivery, and stillbirth. Results: Women reported 10,247 live births, 2544 miscarriages, 1113 preterm deliveries, and 113 stillbirths. Miscarriage was correlated with stillbirth (r = 0.09,
A Review on the Vagus Nerve and Autonomic Nervous System During Fetal Development: Searching for Critical Windows
Full text linkThe autonomic nervous system (ANS) is one of the main biological systems that regulates the body's physiology. Autonomic nervous system regulatory capacity begins before birth as the sympathetic and parasympathetic activity contributes significantly to the fetus' development. In particular, several studies have shown how vagus nerve is involved in many vital processes during fetal, perinatal, and postnatal life: from the regulation of inflammation through the anti-inflammatory cholinergic pathway, which may affect the functioning of each organ, to the production of hormones involved in bioenergetic metabolism. In addition, the vagus nerve has been recognized as the primary afferent pathway capable of transmitting information to the brain from every organ of the body. Therefore, this hypothesis paper aims to review the development of ANS during fetal and perinatal life, focusing particularly on the vagus nerve, to identify possible “critical windows” that could impact its maturation. These “critical windows” could help clinicians know when to monitor fetuses to effectively assess the developmental status of both ANS and specifically the vagus nerve. In addition, this paper will focus on which factors—i.e., fetal characteristics and behaviors, maternal lifestyle and pathologies, placental health and dysfunction, labor, incubator conditions, and drug exposure—may have an impact on the development of the vagus during the above-mentioned “critical window” and how. This analysis could help clinicians and stakeholders define precise guidelines for improving the management of fetuses and newborns, particularly to reduce the potential adverse environmental impacts on ANS development that may lead to persistent long-term consequences. Since the development of ANS and the vagus influence have been shown to be reflected in cardiac variability, this paper will rely in particular on studies using fetal heart rate variability (fHRV) to monitor the continued growth and health of both animal and human fetuses. In fact, fHRV is a non-invasive marker whose changes have been associated with ANS development, vagal modulation, systemic and neurological inflammatory reactions, and even fetal distress during labor.Fil: Cerritelli, Francesco. Foundation Center For Osteopathic Medicine Collaboration; ItaliaFil: Frasch, Martin Gerbert. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Antonelli, Marta Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia "Prof. Eduardo de Robertis". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia; ArgentinaFil: Viglione, Chiara. Foundation Center For Osteopathic Medicine Collaboration; ItaliaFil: Vecchi, Stefano. Foundation Center For Osteopathic Medicine Collaboration; ItaliaFil: Marco Chiera. Foundation Center For Osteopathic Medicine Collaboration; ItaliaFil: Andrea Manzotti. Foundation Center For Osteopathic Medicine Collaboration; Itali
A Pig Model of the Preterm Neonate: Anthropometric and Physiological Characteristics
Full text linkBackground: Large animal models are an essential tool in the development of rationally-based new clinical therapies for preterm infants. We provide a description of the newborn pig as a model of the preterm neonate in terms of growth parameters, physiology and the requirement for intensive care over a range of gestational ages
Untersuchungen komplexer Koordinationen neurovegetativer und hirnelektrischer Aktivitäten im Schlaf und in Narkose mittels nichtlinearer Signalanalyse
Full text linkZiel: Unterscheidung der Low risk von normalen Neugeborenen. Methode: 7 Low risk Neugeborenen wurden mit 6 normalen Neugeborenen anhand der Herzfrequenzfluktuationen (HFF) und Atembewegungen (AB) sowie deren Koordinationen verglichen. Ergebnisse: Bei den Low risk Neugeborenen fanden wir signifikant höhere Kohärenz der HFF und AB, höhere Komplexität der AB in den beiden Schlafstadien sowie der HFF im aktiven Schlaf sowie höhere Komplexität der Kopplung respirokardialer Koordinationen.
Ziel: Beschreibung der Propofol-Sedierungsstadien durch Analyse der linearen und Komplexitäts-Eigenschaften der thalamo-kortikalen, kortikothalamischen und retikulo-thalamischen Koordinationen. Methode: Am Tiermodell von 13 juvenilen Schweinen wurden das Veränderngen von Elektrocortico- und Elektrothalamogramm (Nucl. reticularis thalami) unter tiefer und moderater Propofolsedierung untersucht. Ergebnisse: Komplexe Kopplungseigenschaften der retikulothalamo-kortikalen Koordination zeigten höhere Kopplungsstärke unter tiefer Sedierung; lineare Kopplungseigenschaften der intrakortikalen Koordination zeigen höhere Kopplungsstärke unter moderater Sedierung.
Diskussion: Komplexität respirokardialer Koordinationen erlaubt eine Unterscheidung normaler und Low risk Neugeborener. Perinataler Streß und Hypotrophie steigern Komplexität respirokardialer Koordinationen. Lineare und Komplexitätsparameter der Koordination beschreiben unterschiedliche Eigenschaften der untersuchten Systeme
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Ureaplasma parvum serovar 3 multiple banded antigen size variation after chronic intra-amniotic infection/colonization
Full text linkUreaplasma species are the microorganisms most frequently associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. The multiple banded antigen (MBA), a surface-exposed lipoprotein, is a key virulence factor of ureaplasmas. The MBA demonstrates size variation, which we have shown previously to be correlated with the severity of chorioamnion inflammation. We aimed to investigate U. parvum serovar 3 pathogenesis in vivo, using a sheep model, by investigating: MBA variation after long term (chronic) and short term (acute) durations of in utero ureaplasma infections, and the severity of chorioamnionitis and inflammation in other fetal tissues. Inocula of 2 × 10(7) colony-forming-units (CFU) of U. parvum serovar 3 (Up) or media controls (C) were injected intra-amniotically into pregnant ewes at one of three time points: day 55 (69d Up, n = 8; C69, n = 4); day 117 (7d Up, n = 8; C7, n = 2); and day 121 (3d Up, n = 8; C3, n = 2) of gestation (term = 145-150d). At day 124, preterm fetuses were delivered surgically. Samples of chorioamnion, fetal lung, and umbilical cord were: (i) snap frozen for subsequent ureaplasma culture, and (ii) fixed, embedded, sectioned and stained by haematoxylin and eosin stain for histological analysis. Selected fetal lung clinical ureaplasma isolates were cloned and filtered to obtain cultures from a single CFU. Passage 1 and clone 2 ureaplasma cultures were tested by western blot to demonstrate MBA variation. In acute durations of ureaplasma infection no MBA variants (3d Up) or very few MBA variants (7d Up) were present when compared to the original inoculum. However, numerous MBA size variants were generated in vivo (alike within contiguous tissues, amniotic fluid and fetal lung, but different variants were present within chorioamnion), during chronic, 69d exposure to ureaplasma infection. For the first time we have shown that the degree of ureaplasma MBA variation in vivo increased with the duration of gestation
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