We have investigated the distribution of immunoreactive endothelins (irET) in fetal fluids and expression of ET precursor genes in villous tissue during the first trimester. Samples of maternal plasma (n = 6), coelomic fluid (n = 28), amniotic fluid (n = 23) and villous tissue (n = 3) were obtained from 30 pregnancies immediately before surgical termination at 7-12 weeks gestation. irET concent...

The amniotic membrane is a tissue of fetal origin and is composed of three major layers: a single epithelial layer, a thick basement membrane, and an avascular mesenchyme [Fernandes et al., 2005]. There are no nerves, muscles or lymphatics in the amnion. The amniotic membrane is derived from the inner cell mass in the blastocyst and is adjacent to the trophoblast cells and lines the amniotic ca...

A retrospective analysis of 1- and 5-minute Apgar scores of patients at term gestation (37 to 42 weeks) with evidence of clinical intra-amniotic infection and meconium-stained amniotic fluid was performed. The patients were selected from the labor and delivery records of two Detroit hospitals during the study period from January 1988 through May 1994. The author suggests that the presence of cl...

The relationship between the enzyme phosphatidate phosphohydrolase (PAPase) and lecithin/sphingomyelin (L/S) ratio in amniotic fluid was evaluated in normal human pregnancies and in several pregnancies complicated by Rh isoimmunization. An increase in PAPase activity in amniotic fluid appears to parallel the increase in L/S ratio after 33 weeks gestation in normal subjects. These data suggest t...

Concentrations of pesticides and selected metabolites in rat urine and amniotic fluid were determined as biomarker upon oral administration of Wistar rats to two pesticide mixtures consisting of three to five pesticides (bitertanol, propiconazole, cypermethrin, malathion, and terbuthylazine). The pesticides and their metabolites were found in rat amniotic fluid and urine, generally in dose-resp...