BACKGROUND Our objective was to evaluate changes in serum leptin levels during pregnancy in overweight/obese and non-obese women and to assess total and percent weight gain during pregnancy as possible factors that influence leptin levels. MATERIAL AND METHODS In a prospective study of 42 low-risk pregnant women receiving prenatal care, we assessed serum leptin levels at gestational weeks 9-1...

Background: Evaluation of fat distribution is a way to assessment of physical health. Waist to Hip Ratio and waist circumference are the simplest anthropometric measurements to be used to determine the obesity and related disorders in pregnancy. Today a close consideration is given to WHR and WC assessment in order to evaluate physical health in epidemiological studies. Materials and Methods: O...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether therapy with sildenafil citrate prolongs gestation in women with preeclampsia. METHODS In a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 100 singleton pregnancies with preeclampsia between 24 and 33 weeks of gestation were randomized to 50 mg oral sildenafil citrate every 8 hours or placebo. The primary outcome was prolongation of pregnancy from randomizati...

BACKGROUND Prenatal tobacco exposure is a risk factor for the development of externalizing behaviors and is associated with several adverse health outcomes. Because pregnancy smoking is a complex behavior with both daily fluctuations and changes over the course of pregnancy, quantifying tobacco exposure is a significant challenge. To better measure the degree of tobacco exposure, costly biologi...

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in later life, but the mechanism remains unclear. The aim of the study was to investigate indices of glucose metabolism, dyslipidemia, and arterial stiffness (as measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV)), in women with and without a history of GDM, using both the old WHO and new IADPSG diagnostic crit...