Alpha fetoprotein (AFP) is synthesized by the x human fetal liver and yolk sac [8, 9]. During the 12—14 intrauterine weeks the serum concentration of AFP is at its highest, reaching a few milligrams per ml [7]. However, the total amount of AFP in the fetus increases until the 22 week of gestation, remaining constant until about the 32 week, and thereafter decreasing [7]. In the newborn at term,...

maternal iodine nutrition, and more recently, adequate maternal thyroid hormone is necessary during and after pregnancy to ensure the health of the mother and her offspring. Adequate maternal iodine nutrition must be maintained during pregnancy to meet the increased demand for thyroid hormone production that occurs with pregnancy. Maternal iodine supplies in the United States and in most of the...

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin essential for neuronal survival and differentiation. We examined the concentration of BDNF in cord serum from newborns exposed to methylmercury (MeHg) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in utero by maternal consumption of whale meat. The cohort consisted of 395 singleton births (206 boys and 189 girls), gestational age ranging from 38 ...

backgroundmany studies reported that copper, zinc and magnesium play important roles in the pathogenesis and development of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. exchange transfusion and intensive phototherapy are known two modalities of therapy for severe neonatal hyper bilirubinemia, but the effect of them on those trace elements is unknown.materials and methodscopper, zinc and magnesium serum levels ...

It has been hypothesized that maternal hyperhomocysteinemia to be associated with preeclampsia. The aims of the present study were to examine maternal serum levels of total homocysteine in preeclamptic women and its association with the severity of the disease. The study population consisted of 30 preeclamptic patients and 30 matched healthy pregnant women. Serum levels of total homocysteine we...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to evaluate the interrelationships between maternal serum leptin level and body mass index (BMI) at different gestational ages or during the whole pregnancy. METHODS A total of 374 blood samples were obtained from 114 pregnant women when they visited the prenatal clinic for registration, Down syndrome screening test, 50 g oral glucose challenge test, hepat...

Phenotypes of transcobalamin II (TC2) were determined in 95 maternal-cord serum pairs in order to identify the origin of TC2 in human cord blood. Unsaturated (apo) TC2 in serum was labeled with radioactive (57Co) cobalamin (CbI) and separated into isoproteins by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. Discordancy between the maternal and the cord serum type was observed in 45% o...