Background: In this study, we examined a new two step induction protocol for improving the differentiation of human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells into neural progenitor cells. Materials and Methods: Human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells were first cultured in Dulbecco’s modified eagle medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum in a humidified incu...

PURPOSE To evaluate the role of umbilical cord serum therapy in cases of acute ocular chemical burns. METHODS In a double-blind prospective randomized controlled clinical study, 33 eyes of 32 patients with acute ocular chemical burns of grade III, IV, and V severity were randomized into three groups: umbilical cord serum (n = 12), autologous serum (n = 11), and artificial tears (0.5% HPMC+0.3...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of maternal smoking during pregnancy on levels of umbilical cord erythropoietin. METHODS Erythropoietin levels were measured in umbilical cord sera of 60 newborns who were delivered vaginally at term. There were 20 (33%) smoking and 40 (67%) nonsmoking mothers. RESULTS Mean cord serum erythropoietin levels were significantly lower in the nonsmokers (nonsmoke...

Urate, the final oxidation product of purine metabolism, is excreted into urine in humans. Clinically, increased serum urate levels are indicative of pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH). However, how urate is handled in the placenta is still largely unknown. In this study, we compared maternal serum urate levels with those of umbilical cord blood and investigated urate transport mechanisms in ...

The effects of Friend erythroleukemia cells on angiogenesis were studied in chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane assay and in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. In chorioallantoic membrane assay, the conditioned medium of Friend cells stimulated in vivo angiogenesis to an extent comparable to that observed with Prostaglandin El, used as positive control. Prostaglandin El added to conditio...

To investigate the role of placental transport of bile acids in fetal bile acid metabolism, such as with regard to synthesis of the unusual bile acids (1 beta- and 6 alpha-hydroxylated and unsaturated bile acids), we measured the concentrations of bile acids in umbilical cord blood, amniotic fluid, maternal serum and maternal urine at delivery by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. S...

ackground: The use of antidepressants during pregnancy continues to garner considerable attention, though there are limited nvestigations that have sought to quantify fetal exposure. ethods: Maternal and umbilical cord sera were collected at delivery from ten women taking nortriptyline and seven taking lomipramine. Placental passage was calculated as the ratio of umbilical cord to maternal seru...

Plasma leakage in severe dengue has been postulated to be associated with skewed cytokine immune responses. In this study, the association of cytokines with vascular permeability in dengue patients was investigated. Human serum samples collected from 48 persons (13 with dengue fever, 29 with dengue hemorrhagic fever, and 6 healthy) were subjected to cytokines analysis by using Luminex Multiplex...

BACKGROUND Trace elements and specially minerals are critical for the development of fetus. Many minerals are transferred to the fetus for fetal stores in the latter part of the pregnancy. It has been shown that various trace elements such as Zinc, Iron, Calcium and Magnesium are metabolically interrelated and there is alteration in their concentration during pregnancy. Beyond pregnancy is asso...