BACKGROUND Maternal serum prenatal quadruple screening includes testing for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), unconjugated estriol (uE3), and dimeric inhibin A (DIA). We evaluated quadruple screening using an automated platform and looked for any ethnic differences in the median values of each marker. METHODS We measured the concentrations of each quadruple test an...

OBJECTIVE To examine the potential role of maternal serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP) in the first trimester of pregnancy in the prediction of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). METHODS Maternal serum TNF-α and Hs-CRP concentrations were measured in a case-control study of singleton pregnancies at 11-13 weeks' gestation, which i...

strychnos henningsii gilg is recommended among other remedies for the treatment of diabetes in traditional medicine of southern africa. the antidiabetic effect of oral administration of aqueous bark extract of the plant at 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight was investigated in diabetic rats induced with streptozotocin-nicotinamide for 15 days. the extract decreased the blood glucose level, feed...

OBJECTIVE To examine the distribution of maternal serum soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) at 12, 22, 32 and 36 weeks' gestation in singleton pregnancies that develop pre-eclampsia (PE) and examine the performance of this biomarker in screening for PE. METHODS Serum sFlt-1 was measured in 7066 cases at 11-13 weeks, 8079 cases at 19-24 weeks, 8472 at 30-34 weeks and 4043 at 35-37 week...