Mechanisms that maintain high pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) in the fetal lung are poorly understood. Activation of the Rho kinase signal transduction pathway, which promotes actin-myosin interaction in vascular smooth muscle cells, is increased in the pulmonary circulation of adult animals with experimental pulmonary hypertension. However, the role of Rho kinase has not been studied in th...

background: the exposure of cell lines to low-dose irradiation leads to changes at molecular level, which may induce adaptive response. we examined radio-adaptive doses effect on human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line (ht29) and human fetal fibroblasts (mrc5) cell line followed by hyper and hypo fractionation regimes, with main purpose to decrease cell viability in ht29, and at the same time...

introduction: chlorpyrifos (cpf), an organophosphate insecticide, was evaluated for potential teratogenic effects in mice. a single oral dose of insecticide (i.e. 72, 36 18 or 9 mg/kg) was given to the pregnant females on gestation day6 (gd6). these doses correspond 50, 25, 12.5 and 6.25% to the calculated ld50 value (144 mg/kg) for the pregnant mice. no signs of overt toxicity were observed at...

OF LOW DOSE ASPIRIN : DETECTION AND MANAGEMENT Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) in the fetus and newborn is a rare phenomenon with intra periventricular hemorrhage (IVH-PVH) being the most common type. The incidence of intracranial hemorrhage is higher in premature infants, occurring in approximately 25 45% of less than 32 weeks gestation or with a birth weight of less than 1,500g (Ref: 1, 2). Alt...

Currents were elicited by acetylcholine (ACh), by d-tubocurarine (dTC), and by mixtures of ACh and dTC, from stably transformed fibroblasts that express fetal or adult muscle nicotinic receptors. dTC acted as an antagonist of ACh for activation of adult-type receptors, whereas it acted as a weak partial agonist at fetal-type receptors. The channel-blocking action of dTC was not apparent at the ...

Fetal and neonatal autoimmune hyperthyroidism is a rare, serious but transient disorder. Early diagnosis and treatment are key objectives for an optimal prognosis and the well-being of the child. This review focuses on the management of these patients during the fetal and neonatal periods. We propose a diagnostic algorithm for high-risk pregnancies in mothers with current or past hyperthyroidis...

Dichloroacetonitrile (DCAN) is one of the disinfection by-products of chlorination of drinking water. Limited mechanistic studies exist on the developmental toxicity of haloacetonitriles (HANs). The present study was designed to investigate the potential adverse effects of maternal exposure to DCAN on mouse fetal brain. Based on initial dose-response experiment, DCAN (14 mg/kg/day) was administ...

Infusion of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor enalaprilat into fetal sheep caused a profound arterial hypotension within days. Five fetal lambs were infused with enalaprilat for 8 days starting at day 128 of gestation. Total accumulated dose was 0.30 ± 0.11 mg/kg. Arterial pressure decreased from 43.6 to 25.6 mmHg; venous pressure did not change. Biventricular output was not statistic...