THE PLACENTA.

I-7: Maternal Signalling to the Placenta

Background: Though it is well established that maternal blood-borne signals influence highly the growth of the placenta, the mechanisms are not known. In vitro trophoblast culture models are limited by an inability to reconstruct the polarised bilayer of the human hemochorial placenta. We have used a first trimester villous tissue explant system to investigate how growth factors interact with p...

The effect of lansoprazole administration during pregnancy on the placenta

Introduction: Lansoprazole is one of the proton pump inhibitor drugs widely used in the treatment of gastro-duodenal ulcers and disorders. However, there is not enough data about unexplored adverse effects of lansoprazole on the integrity of the placental barrier. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine whether placental structure could be affected by lansoprazole administrati...

Aberrant effect of genistein on placenta development expressed through alteration in transforming growth factor-β1 and alkaline phosphatase across the maternal serum, the placenta and the amniotic fluid

Objective(s): The mechanism via which genistein, the major isoflavone content of soya, adversely influenced placenta and fetal development was evaluated in pregnant laboratory rats.Materials and Methods: There were control, 2 mg/kg and 4 mg/kg genistein groups of rats with five sub-groups based on gestation termination day. At the end of...

Breaching the Placenta

Most maternally administered chemicals have the potential to cross the placental barrier, and the question is not whether a chemical crosses the placenta, but the rate at which it does so. In this issue, Osamu Takahashi and Shinshi Oishi of the Tokyo Metropolitan Research Laboratory of Public Health present their findings that the placenta fails to act as a barrier to a potentially toxic compou...

The human placenta.