F etal cells are consistently found in the maternal circulation, and polymerase chain reaction based studies have led to the identification of cell free fetal DNA (fetal DNA) in maternal blood. Approximately 1.2 nucleated fetal cells/ml of whole blood from women carrying a male fetus were detectable, and relative enrichment of fetal DNA was detected in the maternal plasma and serum. The amount ...

Although cell-free nucleic acids were first described in the 1940s (1 ), it was not until tumor-specific DNA sequences were detected in the plasma of cancer patients (2 ) that they started to attract the interest of the wider scientific community. Because the placenta shares numerous features with malignant tissues, such as a high rate of cell turnover and the expression of certain protooncogen...

OBJECTIVE This study was undertaken to determine whether premature labor is associated with changes in the maternal plasma concentration of soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L), a marker of platelet activation. METHODS A cross-sectional study included patients in the following groups: 1) non-pregnant (n=21); 2) normal pregnancy (n=71); 3) normal pregnancy at term with (n=67) and without labor (n=88);...

Edwards, L. J., J. R. McFarlane, K. G. Kauter, and I. C. McMillen. Impact of periconceptional nutrition on maternal and fetal leptin and fetal adiposity in singleton and twin pregnancies. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 288: R39–R45, 2005. First published June 10, 2004; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00127.2004.—It has been proposed that maternal nutrient restriction may alter the functional develo...

Maternal behaviour is a crucial component of reproduction in all mammals; however the quality of care that mothers give to infants can vary greatly. It is vital to document variation in maternal behaviour caused by the physiological processes controlling its expression. This underlying physiology should be conserved throughout reproductive events and should be replicated across all individuals ...

F etal cells are consistently found in the maternal circulation, and polymerase chain reaction based studies have led to the identification of cell free fetal DNA (fetal DNA) in maternal blood. Approximately 1.2 nucleated fetal cells/ml of whole blood from women carrying a male fetus were detectable, and relative enrichment of fetal DNA was detected in the maternal plasma and serum. The amount ...

Alfentanil 35 micrograms kg-1, was used successfully in a patient with severe aortic stenosis, in order to minimize the haemodynamic responses to intubation and surgery during Caesarean section. The baby was delivered apnoeic, unresponsive and with poor muscle tone, but responded rapidly to naloxone. Plasma alfentanil concentrations and percentage binding to plasma proteins were measured in bot...

BACKGROUND Recently, much interest has been generated on the fetomaternal transfer of nucleated cells and plasma DNA. However, there has been no systematic quantitative comparison of these two directions and two modalities of trafficking within the same study population. METHODS The fetus-to-mother transfer of nucleated cells and plasma DNA in pregnant women carrying male babies was studied u...

The chief obstetrical problems encountered today in the prenatal evaluation of the high-risk fetus are presented. Advantages and pitfalls or recent techniques utilized in the management of the high-risk pregnancy are discussed. They include: a prenatal scoring system for identifying the high-risk population; examination of the karyotype of cells in amniotic fluid, and quantitation of alpha-feto...

The discovery of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma opened up new possibilities for noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT). Conceptual advances in single-molecule counting have resulted in robust methods for the NIPT of fetal chromosomal aneuploidies and subchromosomal aberrations. Such methods are employed worldwide and are among the most rapidly adopted genomic tests. Furthermore, approaches...