toxoplasmosis is an important zoonotic diseases in human and animals. the disease caused by the protozoan toxoplasma gondii. to determine the infection rate of toxoplasmosis in sheep and goats in east azarbaijan province of iran a total of 186 sera, 13 fetal brains, 13 cotyledons and 34 whole blood samples were collected from sheep and goats in tabriz abattoir during the year 2010. serum sam...

Epigenetic processes play a key role in orchestrating transcriptional regulation during development. The importance of DNA methylation in fetal brain development is highlighted by the dynamic expression of de novo DNA methyltransferases during the perinatal period and neurodevelopmental deficits associated with mutations in the methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MECP2) gene. However, our knowledge a...

OBJECTIVE While large fetal copy number aberrations can generally be detected through sequencing of DNA in maternal blood, the reliability of tests depends on the fraction of DNA that originates from the fetus. Existing methods to determine this fetal fraction require additional work or are limited to male fetuses. We aimed to create a sex-independent approach without additional work. METHODS...

Eight near-term fetal lambs were studied acutely in utero to determine role of platelet-activating factor (PAF) in the regulation of vasomotor tone in systemic and pulmonary circulations in the immediate perinatal period. Four fetal lambs were studied predelivery and 2 h postdelivery to determine circulating PAF levels. Aortic and pulmonary arterial pressures and cardiac output were measured co...

BACKGROUND Noninvasive prenatal diagnosis of fetal aneuploidy by maternal plasma analysis is challenging owing to the low fractional and absolute concentrations of fetal DNA in maternal plasma. Previously, we demonstrated for the first time that fetal DNA in maternal plasma could be specifically targeted by epigenetic (DNA methylation) signatures in the placenta. By comparing one such methylate...

The hormone Insulin-like peptide 3 (INSL3) is a major secretory product of the Leydig cells from both fetal and adult testes. Consequently, it is a major gender-specific circulating hormone in the male fetus, where it is responsible for the first phase of testicular descent, and in the adult male. In most female mammals, circulating levels are very low, corresponding to only a small production ...

Circulating concentrations of C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) and a related amino terminal fragment (NTproCNP) were measured at weekly intervals from preconception to 3 wk postpartum in ewes with twins (n = 8) and nonpregnant ewes (n = 8). In contrast to low and stable values in nonpregnant ewes (CNP, 0.75 +/- 0.08; NTproCNP, 22 +/- 2 pmol/liter), CNP forms increased abruptly at 40-50 d of ges...

Obesity during pregnancy has major consequences for maternal and neonatal health, but the long-term effects on the offspring are less clear. It is not known whether the effects observed in animal models are a result of maternal obesity per se or of the high-fat diets used to induce obesity. This investigation aimed to develop a model for the evaluation of the independent effects of cafeteria fe...

The objective of this review article was to highlight briefly the recent advances made relevant to applications of free circulating nucleic acids (FcNAs) in clinical medicine. Detection of FcNAs in plasma, serum and other body fluids from healthy subjects as well as in patients has opened up the possibility of diagnosis and monitoring of diseases. With the rapid developments in molecular biolog...