1. It has been suggested that lowdose prenatal mercury exposure as measured by umbilical cord blood mercury concentrations of >29 nmol/L causes adverse long-term neurocognitive outcomes. 2. Of 608 children, 491 (81%) had umbilical cord blood mercury concentrations of >29 nmol/L. However, umbilical cord blood mercury concentrations were associated with only two out of 23 neurocognitive subtests....

Congenital hernia of umbilical cord is a less frequent entity in newborns and occasionally associated with other maladies. Herein, we report three unusual cases of hernia of umbilical cord. First case was associated with in-utero evisceration of entire small bowel through the presumably ruptured hernia of umbilical cord and other two cases had associated patent vitellointestinal duct (PVID). Al...

Umbilical cord tissue was obtained from 50 births in the Faroe Islands, where high mercury intake is due to ingestion of pilot whale meat. The mercury concentration correlated significantly with the frequency of maternal whale meat dinners during pregnancy and with mercury concentrations in umbilical cord blood and in maternal hair. The results were compared with published values for mercury in...

Background: Antenatal steroid therapy recently has been considered for term and late preterm neonates delivered by Cesarean section (CS), with the aim of preventing adverse respiratory morbidity. The main aim of this study was to investigate the metabolic effects of antenatal dexamethasone on blood glucose (BG), homeostasis, and serum C-peptide level when administered to term fetuses. Methods: ...

Pre-eclampsia, the most common pregnancy associated syndrome, is connected with remodelling of extracellular matrix of the umbilical cord tissues. Since the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) is known to be a stimulator of collagen and glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis, one may expect that it plays an important role in such a remodelling. Studies performed on the umbilical cords of 10 control and 10 p...

The extracellular matrix components are differentially distributed among various structures of the umbilical cord. Wharton's jelly is especially rich in collagens and growth factors. Cathepsin B is a major cysteine protease involved in collagen degradation, as well as in the activation of precursor forms of other collagenolytic enzymes and growth factors. We assessed the activity and expression...

The aim of the study was to investigate the possibility of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) surviving and differentiating into hepatocyte-like cells in partially hepatectomized model rats. MSCs were isolated from human umbilical cord and cultured with collagenase digestion. Cell surface markers were detected and fifth generation UC-MSCs were labeled with PKH26. The partiall...

Abstract: Umbilical cord prolapse is an uncommon obstetric emergency with high neonatal morbidity and mortality. It a rare entity incidence ranging from 0.1 to 0.6%. Timely recognition immediate interventions are needed for better outcome. Here, we present case of 28-year-old multigravida term pregnancy seven hours following rupture mem...

Full-term human umbilical cord contains three blood vessels: two arteries coiled around a vein and surrounded by Wharton's jelly, a mucous tissue with few mesenchymal stromal cells and abundant extracellular matrix. Umbilical vessels lack innervations, thus endothelial cells must play a role in the control of blood flow. The aim of this study was to investigate in human umbilical cord the expre...