Human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) isolated from umbilical cord is widely used as endothelial cell model. However, HUVEC has been characteristically hard to maintain and showed molecular heterogeneity depending on the umbilical cord donors. Commercial HUVEC is commonly derived from European and Caucasian population which have different molecular characteristics from Asian women. This...

Doppler flow velocity waveform recording in the fetal ductus venosus and umbilical artery as well as maternal blood sampling for serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP) was performed before and after transabdominal chorion Mtlus sampling (TACVS) in 36 women of advanced maternal age (3 36 years). Gestational age ranged between 11 and 13 weeks. No chromosomal anomaly was detected. No statistically sigrul...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE To verify whether progesterone concentration is changed in the maternal serum of intra-uterine growth retardation (IUGR) pregnancies and to assess if there is a relationship between maternal progesterone and fetal Doppler velocimetry. PATIENTS AND METHODS Thirty-five patients with intrauterine growth retardation infants and thirty-seven pregnant women with appropriate for...

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to measure anti-endometrial antibody concentrations in the serum of women with endometriosis. Pooled cytosolic protein extracts from the endometrial gland cells of 10 women were used as an antigen source. Serum samples were obtained from women with endometriosis before (n = 51) and after 6 months treatment with danazol or nafarelin (n =...

In vitro methods are widely used in biomedical research and industry, often reducing or replacing animal experiments. However, cell cultures are generally supplemented with fetal bovine serum (FBS), also known as fetal calf serum (FCS), to optimize cell growth. Concerns have been raised regarding both the method used to collect the serum from the donor fetus and the possibility of viral contami...

BACKGROUND Amylin is a novel 37 amino acid peptide hormone that is co-secreted with insulin from the pancreas in response to food intake. As a potent inhibitor of gastric emptying it plays an important role in the control of carbohydrate absorption. Feed intolerance is common in infants of diabetic mothers (IDM). AIMS To establish a normal range of amylin levels in healthy neonates, and to de...

UNLABELLED  OBJECTIVE To describe the status of vitamin D levels in maternal and umbilical cord blood in term pregnant woman in a mixed ethnic population in an inner-city European maternity. METHODS A single centre prospective cohort descriptive study including all uncomplicated singleton term pregnancies from April 1, 2011 until May 31, 2011. Plasma 25-hydroxy vitamin D level was determin...

Congenital umbilical cord hernia is fairly common in infants and it is rarely associated with other anomalies. Sometimes, large umbilical cord hernia is confused with Small omphaloceles. We report an unusual case of umbilical cord hernia associated with patent vitello-intestinal duct (PVID), and Meckel's diverticulum underwent surgery and discharged with good general condition.

To investigate gender differences, if any, in leptin concentrations from umbilical cord blood of new born infants of mothers with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and Non diabetic (ND) at delivery. Serum leptin concentrations were measured in 105 newborns (53 males and 52 females in the three groups). Blood was taken from the umbilical cord of the babies at de...