Adverse Childhood Experiences are Associated with Miscarriage in Adulthood: The GROWH Study

Maternal and Child Health Journal - To investigate whether adverse childhood experiences are associated with miscarriage. The Gulf Resilience on Women’s Health Consortium recruited from...     

Preconception metabolic indicators predict gestational diabetes and offspring birthweight

Pregnancy conditions such as gestational diabetes (GDM) and macrosomia lead to an increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the offspring, perpetuating a cycle of poor health. We hypothesized that (1) pre-pregnancy indicators of metabolism would be associated with GDM and birthweight; and (2) the lipid accumulation product (LAP; incorporating waist circumference and triglycerides) and visceral adiposity index (VAI; incorporating waist circumference, triglycerides, and HDL-c) would be better predictors of GDM and birthweight than other indicators. Data from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study were linked to the Finnish birth registry for 349 women. BMI, triglycerides, waist circumference, insulin, HOMA-IR, LAP, and VAI at the visit prior to the pregnancy were examined as predictors of GDM and large-for-gestational-age (LGA) using logistic regression with adjustment for age, parity, and smoking. Waist circumference was the strongest predictor of GDM (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.66, 95% confidence interval 1.16–2.38) and LGA (aOR 1.41, 1.00–1.99). For GDM, all markers had similar discrimination; for LGA, the area under the receiver operating curve for waist circumference was significantly higher than for BMI (p?相似文献   

Validation of quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays for measuring cytokine expression in equine macrophages

The study of the equine immune system and inflammatory responses, by measuring cytokine expression, can provide important insight into disease pathogenesis in the horse. A set of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) assays for the equine cytokines IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha were validated using QPCR primers and probes which were generated for the equine IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-alpha and 18S genes. Amplification efficiency, intra-assay and inter-assay variation were determined using 10-fold dilutions of plasmid for each gene. Under these conditions the amplification efficiencies of the primers and probes ranged from 99% to 101%. The mean coefficient of variation (CV) across five sets of plasmid DNA for both intra-assay and inter-assay variation was 0.63% (range 0.2% to 1.8%). Amplification efficiency was also determined using 2-fold dilutions of cDNA and under these conditions amplification efficiency ranged from 83% to 95%. The specificity of amplification was confirmed by DNA sequencing of reaction products. The QPCR assays were also evaluated using three sets of cDNA from equine monocyte derived macrophages (EMDM) stimulated for 1 h with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The general trend was the same for all three samples with IL-1alpha showing the greatest induction and IL-6 the lowest induction. The range of cytokine induction was greater than has previously been reported with values ranging from 12-fold to 30,000-fold. We present a set of QPCR primers and probes that are suitable for quantitation of expression of a set of equine cytokines. The primers and probes have been rigorously analyzed, and we demonstrate that they are specific for the desired genes, have a high amplification efficiency and the assays are highly reproducible.     

Multisequence magnetic resonance imaging study of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between magnetization transfer imaging (MTI), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS), and T2 relaxometry findings in patients with primary neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE). METHODS: The study group consisted of 24 female patients (mean age 36 years [range 23-65]) who had had a variety of neuropsychiatric symptoms that were judged to be due to NPSLE according to the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology. Patients with current active disease were excluded from participation. Quantitative MTI, DWI, H-MRS, and T2 relaxometry data were acquired in all patients, and the correlation coefficients were calculated. RESULTS: MTI results reflecting a decrease in homogeneity of cerebral parenchyma correlated significantly with H-MRS results representing axonal damage. MTI results also correlated significantly with DWI results reflecting increased diffusivity in the cerebral parenchyma. Finally, MTI results reflecting decreased cerebral homogeneity correlated significantly with increased T2 relaxation time, associated with either edema or gliosis. Increased T2 relaxation time correlated significantly with DWI results reflecting increased diffusivity. With the exception of the correlation between H-MRS and MTI findings, there was no significant correlation between H-MRS results and any other parameter. CONCLUSION: The selected study parameters represent different biologic features in the human brain and can be informative with regard to different pathologic processes in NPSLE. The demonstrated associations between MTI, DWI, H-MRS, and T2 data in patients with a history of NPSLE suggest that there is one pathogenesis and/or common neuropathologic outcome in NPSLE despite differences in clinical presentation.