Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) is a common obstetric complication lacking an optimal method for prenatal screening. DNA methylation profile in maternal blood holds significant promise for prenatal screening. Here, we aimed to screen out potential IUGR biomarkers in maternal blood from the perspective of DNA methylation. The IUGR rat model was established by prenatal maternal undernutrit...

Maternal effect factors derived from oocytes are important for sustaining early embryonic development before the major wave of embryonic genome activation (EGA). In this study, we report a two-cell-stage arrest of embryos lacking maternal 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1 as a result of suppressed EGA. Concurrent deletion of maternal Pten completely rescued the suppressed EGA and em...

Maternal genes present in mature oocytes play a crucial role in the early development of silkworm. Although maternal genes have been widely studied in many other species, there has been limited research in Bombyx mori. High-throughput next generation sequencing provides a practical method for gene discovery on a genome-wide level. Herein, a transcriptome study was used to identify maternal-rela...

Background: High maternal hemoglobin (Hb) concentration was considered a risk factor for the developing of pregnancy hypertension. The purpose of this study was to determine whether high maternal Hb concentration in first trimesters associated with pregnancy induced hypertension in Iranian nulliparous women. Methods: This study was carried out in teaching hospital in Sari, Iran. Samples were ob...

to evaluate the maternal serum dehydroepiandrosterone (dhea) sulfate levels as a factor influencing labor ‘efficiency’ at term and unsuccessful labor induction. this is a prospective study. in this study the mean (± standard error) maternal serum dhea sulfate levels of 90 singleton pregnant women in 3 groups with spontaneous labor, need for augmentation and need for induction were compared.preg...

Non-inherited maternal antigens encoded by specific HLA-DRB1 alleles (NIMA) have been implicated as a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) risk factor. Using genotype data from North American Rheumatoid Arthritis Consortium study participants and the maternal-fetal genotype incompatibility (MFG) test, we find evidence for offspring allelic effects but no evidence for NIMA as a RA risk factor. We discuss p...

BACKGROUND Successful implantation is followed by a local pro-inflammatory and Th1 response, subsequently controlled by Th2. Regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) promotes a Th1 response and is implicated as a physiologic tolerogenic factor; therefore, we studied its potential role in the trophoblast-maternal leukocyte dialog. METHODS We performed co-culture...

Growth factor signaling is essential for pattern formation, growth, differentiation, and maintenance of stem cell pluripotency. Nodal-related signaling factors are required for axis formation and germ layer specification from sea urchins to mammals. Maternal transcripts of the zebrafish Nodal factor, Squint (Sqt), are localized to future embryonic dorsal. The mechanisms by which maternal sqt/no...

Background and Aim: Periodontal disease may cause adverse pregnancy outcomes such as low birth weight (LBW) or preterm birth (PTB). In the present study, mothers with one of these two delivery complications were analyzed regarding presence/absence of periodontal disease as a possible risk factor in comparison with related medical risk factors.   Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectiona...

maternal nutritional is the most important environmental factor influencing pregnancy outcome. while studies showed association between maternal iron-micronutrient deficiencies with pregnancy outcome, data examining impact of micronutrient supplementation on growth rate beyond birth are sparse. present study examined the relationship between iron and multivitamins supplementation on growth rate...