In adults, hyperosmolality stimulates central osmoreceptors, resulting in arginine vasopressin (AVP) secretion. Near-term fetal sheep have also developed mechanisms to respond to intravascular hypertonicity with stimulation of in utero AVP release. However, prior studies demonstrating fetal AVP secretion have utilized plasma tonicity changes greater than those required for adult osmotically ind...

OBJECTIVE Placental corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) affects myometrial contractility and the secretion of several uterotonins such as prostaglandins (PGs); however, the activity of CRF is counteracted by CRF-binding protein (CRF-BP). At term and pre-term labor, CRF levels in maternal plasma are highest whereas those of CRF-BP are falling, and the cause of this fall is unknown. Thus, in thi...

OBJECTIVE Adipokines have been implicated in metabolic regulation and the immune response thus providing a molecular mechanism for the interaction between these two systems. Retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) is a novel adipokine that plays a role in the pathophysiology of obesity-induced insulin resistance, as well as in the modulation of inflammation. The aim of this study was to determine whet...

Acebutolol (AC) is a chiral b-adrenergic blocking drug, which is useful clinically as the racemate in treating hypertension and is metabolized to an equipotent chiral metabolite, diacetolol (DC). In this paper we report a case of a 32 year old woman who was receiving AC during her pregnancy and lactating time for management of hypertension. The maternal plasma level and breast milk as well as c...

References 1. Lo YMD, Hjelm NM, Fidler C, Sargent IL, Murphy MF, Chamberlain PF, et al. Prenatal diagnosis of fetal RhD status by molecular analysis of maternal plasma. N Engl J Med 1998;339:1734–8. 2. Chiu RWK, Lau TK, Leung TN, Chow KCK, Chui DHK, Lo YMD. Prenatal exclusion of thalassaemia major by examination of maternal plasma. Lancet 2002;360:998–1000. 3. Zhong XY, Laivuori H, Livingston J...

Concentrations of chorionic somatomammotrophin (hCS) in maternal plasma at the time of delivery and in placental extracts were determined by radioimmunoassay and related to neonatal growth in 111 normal pregnancies. Mean maternal plasma hCS concentration was lower in association with small-for-dates infants, defined by either height or weight, than with well-grown preterm or term infants. Mean ...

Maternal ethanol intake during pregnancy impairs fetal growth, but mechanisms are not clearly defined. Reduced IGF abundance or bioavailability in the fetus and/or mother may contribute to this growth restriction. We hypothesized that an episode of acute ethanol exposure, mimicking binge drinking would restrict fetal growth and perturb the maternal and fetal IGF axes. Pregnant sheep were infuse...

Human and guinea pig fetuses are completely dependent on an adequate maternal vitamin C (vitC) intake. Shortage of micronutrients can have negative implications for fetal health and pregnancy outcome; however, knowledge of maternal vitC deficiency's impact on fetal development is sparse and reports of pregnancy outcome have been divergent. The present study investigated whether maternal vitC de...

OBJECTIVE Visfatin, a novel adipokine with metabolic and immunoregulatory properties, has been implicated in the regulation of fetal growth, as well as in preterm labor. A gap in knowledge is whether spontaneous labor at term is associated with changes in the maternal and fetal concentrations of visfatin. The aim of this study was to determine if the presence of labor at term is associated with...

Introduction: Many of the diseases of adulthood are originated from the intrauterine conditions during fetal life. Because of the importance of thyroid hormones in growth and development of the fetus, the effects of maternal hypothyroidism on carbohydrate metabolism in adulthood was investigated. Methods: Pregnant rats were divided into the fetal hypothyroidism (FH) and the control (C) group...