Placental iron transport during the last trimester of pregnancy determines the iron endowment of the neonate. Iron transport is a function of the major iron transport proteins: transferrin receptor-1 (TfR-1) and ferroportin-1 (FPN-1). The mRNAs for TfR-1 and, potentially, FPN-1 are posttranscriptionally regulated by iron regulatory protein (IRP)-1 and IRP-2. We assessed the effect of gestationa...

Maternal hypothyroidism during pregnancy impairs brain function in human and rat offspring, but little is known regarding the influence of maternal hyperthyroidism on neurodevelopment. We have previously shown that the expression of neuronal and glial differentiation markers in fetal brain is compromised in hypothyroid rat dam pregnancies and have now therefore extended this investigation to hy...

OBJECTIVE Magnesium sulfate is proposed to have neuroprotective effects in the offspring. We examined the effects of maternal magnesium sulfate administration on maternal and fetal inflammatory responses in a rat model of maternal infection. STUDY DESIGN Pregnant rats were injected with saline, Gram-negative bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide or lipopolysaccharide with magnesium sulfate (...

The interrelationships among d-11 conceptus size, d-105 placental weight, placental efficiency (the ability of the placenta to support fetal growth and development), fetal erythropoiesis, and uterine capacity were examined in 1/2 Meishan, 1/2 White crossbred gilts that were unilaterally ovariohysterectomized at 90 to 100 d of age. In Exp. 1, gilts were mated after at least one normal estrous cy...

During embryonic development, T lymphoid precursor cells colonize the thymus. Chemoattraction by the fetal thymus is thought to mediate T precursor cell colonization. However, the molecules that attract T precursor cells to the thymus remain unclear. By devising time-lapse visualization in culture, the present results show that alymphoid fetal thymus lobes attract T precursor cells from fetal l...

The fetal membranes fulfill several functions during pregnancy. In addition to containing the products of conception and amniotic fluid, they presumably have barrier functions and fulfill paracrine signaling functions between the maternal (decidual) and fetal compartments. As the membranes are in an ideal place to receive both maternal and fetal signals and transmit signals to uterine myometriu...

Placental iron transport during the last trimester of pregnancy determines the iron endowment of the neonate. Iron transport is a function of the major iron transport proteins, transferrin receptor-1 (TfR-1) and ferroportin-1 (FPN-1). The mRNAs for TfR-1, and potentially FPN-1, are post-transcriptionally regulated by iron regulatory protein-1 (IRP-1) and -2 (IRP-2). We assessed the effect of ge...

BACKGROUND Transient receptor potential channel type 6 (TRPV6) and Calbindin-D9k (CaBP-9k) are involved in the active calcium (Ca2+) transport mechanism in many tissues including placenta and uterus, suggesting a role in the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. Moreover, TRPV6 and CaBP-9k seem to support the materno-fetal Ca2+ transport that is crucial for fetal Ca2+ homeostasis, bone gr...

Introduction/Objective. Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is associated with increased fetal and neonatal mortality morbidity. The study objective was to investigate the correlation of maternal blood biochemical markers routinely determined in first second trimester screening ultrasound surveillance parameters prediction condition singleton pregnancies. Methods. In we measured serum levels beta su...

During embryonic development, T-lymphoid precursor cells colonize the thymus. Chemoattraction by the fetal thymus is thought to mediate T-precursor cell colonization. However, the molecules that attract T-precursor cells to the thymus remain unclear. By devising time-lapse visualization in culture, the present results show that alymphoid fetal thymus lobes attract T-precursor cells from fetal l...