Immune system plays crucial role in body and lymph nodes are essential parts of this system for combating pathogens. However, no study has ever been conducted on morphometric development of sheep lymph nodes in fetal period. Thus, this study attempted to examine the morphometric characteristics of a number of important lymph nodes of some lymphocenters of sheep during fetal period. To this end,...

Maternal thyroid hormone (TH) crosses the placenta and is postulated to regulate fetal brain development. However, TH-dependent stages of fetal brain development remain to be characterised. We have therefore compared the levels of several neuronal and glial cytoskeletal proteins in fetal brains from normal (N) and partially thyroidectomised (TX) rat dams by immunoblotting. Pregnancies were stud...

Fetal development and growth, as well as the timing of birth is influenced by the intrauterine environment. Many environ­ mental factors causing the fetal stress can interfere with fetal development and leave long­term and profound consequences on health. Fetal glucocorticoid overexposure has primarily signifi­ cant consequences for the development of the central nervous system. In response to ...

Maternal nutrition has a profound long-term impact on infant health. Poor maternal nutrition influences placental development and fetal growth, resulting in low birth weight, which is strongly associated with the risk of developing chronic diseases, including heart disease, hypertension, asthma, and type 2 diabetes, later in life. Few studies have delineated the mechanisms by which maternal nut...

Several lines of evidence, mostly derived from animal studies, indicate that changes in fetal environment may affect renal development. Besides maternal hyperglycemia or drug exposure, that were recently found to alter nephrogenesis, changes in vitamin A supply to the fetus may prove to be responsible for most of the variations in nephron number found in the population. A low vitamin A status i...

Background: Micronutrient deficiencies have been associated with significantly high reproductive risks, ranging from infertility to fetal structural defects and long-term diseases. Materials and Methods: In this review we focus on the reproductive risks related to some micronutrients during the periconceptional period, a critical step in determining fetal development and health due to the poten...

The authors investigated timing and trajectories of fetal growth in relation to childhood development in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-Scandinavian Study of Successive Small-for-Gestational Age Births (1986-1988) (n = 1,059). Fetal size was assessed by ultrasound at 17, 25, and 33 gestational weeks and at birth. Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the Wechsler...

Mouse B cell precursors from fetal liver and adult bone marrow (BM) generate distinctive B cell progeny when transplanted into immunodeficient recipients, supporting a two-pathway model for B lymphopoiesis, fetal "B-1" and adult "B-2." Recently, Lin28b was shown to be important for the switch between fetal and adult pathways; however, neither the mechanism of Lin28b action nor the importance of...