Serum S100B in pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia: A case-control study

BackgroundSerum S100B is a protein produced and released primarily by astrocytes of the Central Nervous System (CNS). Elevated levels of serum S100B are associated with several types of pathological conditions of the brain, including the eclampsia in pregnant women. The aim of this study was to compare serum S100B concentrations in pregnant women with severe and mild preeclampsia (PE) with S100B serum levels in normotensive pregnant women.Material and methodsSerum S100B protein was measured in normotensive pregnant women (n = 15) and in women with mild PE (n = 12) or severe PE (n = 34). The serum S100B level (μg/L) was determined by an luminometric assay.ResultsSixty-one expectant mothers were studied, aged 26.6 ± 8.7 (mean ± SD) years and with a gestational age of 33.3 ± 4.2 weeks. The severe PE group demonstrated higher S100B levels (0.20 ± 0.19), as compared with mild PE (0.07 ± 0.05) or normotensive groups (0.04 ± 0.05).ConclusionElevated serum S100B levels in pregnant women with severe PE suggest that some kind of neural damage and subsequent astrocytic release of S100B is not dependent on the progression from severe preeclampsia to eclampsia.     

Urinary incontinence in pregnancy and the puerperium: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: Pregnancy and childbirth are commonly thought to be associated with the development of urinary incontinence and lower urinary tract symptoms. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship, if any, between pregnancy and the development of lower urinary tract symptoms.Study Design: A prospective study of lower urinary tract symptoms was carried out in a cohort of pregnant women who answered a series of symptom questionnaires and kept a 24-hour bladder chart on which frequency of urination and volumes voided were recorded throughout pregnancy and for 8 weeks after birth. RESULTS: A total of 123 women participated in the study. Mean daily urine output (P =.01) and the mean number of voids per day (P =.01) increased with gestational age and declined after delivery. Episodes of urinary incontinence peaked in the third trimester and improved after birth (P =.001). White women had higher mean voided volumes and fewer voiding episodes than did black women. Ingestion of caffeine was associated with smaller voided volumes and greater frequency of urination. CONCLUSION: Pregnancy is associated with an increase in urinary incontinence. This phenomenon decreases in the puerperium. Pregnancy and childbirth trauma are important factors in the development of urinary incontinence among women. These findings warrant further investigation.     

Ploidy analysis and S-phase fraction determination by flow cytometry in anembryonic pregnancy and spontaneous abortions.

The nuclear DNA content of 20 anembryonic pregnancies was studied by flow cytometry from paraffin embedded tissue blocks. An abnormal amount of DNA content was found in 8 of the cases. This was a significantly higher percentage than encountered in spontaneous abortions studied by the same population (40 and 9%, respectively, p < 0.05). The S-phase fraction in anembryonic pregnancies was lower than in spontaneous abortions (22.4 +/- 12.7 and 35.4 +/- 6.8, respectively, p < 0.01). The results indicated that abnormal embryogenesis with grave chromosomal aberrations may play a major role in the etiology of anembryonic pregnancy.     

Evaluation of a prospective study on the urinary tract infections in pregnancy

The AA. considered 58 pregnant women affected by asymptomatic bacteriuria of pregnancy and 20 pregnant women with sterile urine during the first trimester of pregnancy as control group. Despite a constant treatment suggested by antibiogram the incidence of infective relapses was high but no patients were affected by important infections as acute haemorrhagic cystitis and acute pyelonephritis. In control group only 15% of patients had an asymptomatic urinary infection. These patients received the same treatment of the first group. In AA. opinion, a constant and careful screening of asymptomatic urinary infections is necessary in all pregnant women to prevent acute pyelonephritis.     

Prevention of vertical hepatitis B transmission by hepatitis B immunoglobulin in the third trimester of pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the possible efficacy of using hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) during the third trimester of pregnancy to prevent intrauterine transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV). METHODS: Of 469 pregnant women testing positive for hepatitis B surface antigens (HBsAg), 126 had hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and 343 did not. RESULTS: There were women who declined to be treated with HBIG in these 2 groups. Among infants born to HBeAg-positive mothers, the rates of those testing positive for HBsAg at birth and at the 6-month visit were significantly lower when the mothers had been treated with HBIG (P<0.05). Among infants born to HBeAg-negative mothers, however, no significant differences were found whether the mothers had been treated or not. Furthermore, all newborns received HBIG treatment and the first dose of a vaccination schedule within 12 h of birth. At the 6-month visit the protective anti-HBs rates were only 32.3% among infants whose mothers were HBeAg-positive and 56.2% among those whose mothers were HBeAg-negative when their mothers had not been treated with HBIG during pregnancy, whereas the corresponding rates were as high as 75.8% and 88.7% when the mothers had been treated. CONCLUSION: Maternal administration of HBIG is effective in preventing intrauterine fetal HBV infection in HBsAg-positive, HBeAg-positive pregnant women and in improving immune response to hepatitis B vaccine in infants born to HBV carriers.     

Termination of midtrimester pregnancy by serial intramuscular injections of 15(S)-15-methyl-prostaglandin F2alpha.

Midtrimester abortion was successfully induced in 117 of 120 patients with serial intramuscular injections of 15(S)-15-methyl-prostaglandin F2alpha (15-me-PGF2alpha). The mean abortion time was 14.12 hours, and parous patients aborted in a mean of 12.85 hours-significantly faster than nulliparous patients who aborted in a mean of 15.24 hours. Ninety-four per cent of the 117 successfully induced abortions occurred in less than 24 hours and 46 per cent in less than 12 hours. Uterine activity was monitored and analyzed in nine patients. Uterine response to a single intramuscular injection of 100 mug of 15-me-PGF2alpha was characterized by the appearance of low-amplitude, high frequency contractions and a rapid increase in baseline intrauterine tonus. A high level of uterine activity, 900 Montevideo Units, was observed within 30 minutes of the first intramuscular injection of 15-me-PGF2alpha. This activity was not maintained and decreased by approximately 30 per cent at the time of the second injection at 1 hour. It was not until 6 hours of 15-me-PGF2alpha therapy that activity stabilized at approximately 500 Montevideo Units. Even though all patients were premedicated with antiemetic and antidiarrhea agents, 68 of 120 patients experienced gastrointestinal side effects related to the 15-me-PGF2alpha administration. Vomiting was the most prevalent side effect, occuring in 65 patients, but the episodes were not severe, were well tolerated by the patients and did not necessitate the termination of prostaglandin administration in any of the patients. In this study abortion was successfully induced between weeks 9 to 27 of gestation. It was observed that patients with gestations of 16 weeks or less aborted significantly faster than patients with gestations of 17 weeks or more, which indicates that this method is highly effective in the induction of abortion within the "gray zone", 12 to 16 weeks of gestation.