Successful detection of the fetal electrocardiogram waveform changes during various states of singletons.

Accurate assessment of fetal well-being is one of the most important tasks for obstetricians. It is still difficult to measure fetal electrocardiogram (ECG) during fetal movements. Recently, a new method, blind source separation with reference signals, was proposed for stable measurements.

Maternal undernutrition with vaginal inflammation impairs the neonatal oligodendrogenesis in mice.

Maternal undernutrition and infection during pregnancy may impair development of oligodendrocytes, thereby increasing risks of neuropsychiatric disorders of their children. We analyzed the effects of those risk factors on oligodendrogenesis in fetal and neonatal brains. Female mice were given low-protein or regular food for 2 weeks before their pregnancy.

Understanding congenital heart defects through abdominal fetal electrocardiography: case reports and clinical implications.

Aims: Congenital heart defects are the most common fetal structural anomalies of which a significant number remain unrecognized during postnatal life. Fetal electrocardiography (FECG) is an ideal clinical tool to complement ultrasonography for the screening and management of these cases where early and accurate diagnoses would allow definite rather than palliative treatment. The objective of this report was to correlate the particular FECG results found with the different types of congenital heart defects involved and to further demonstrate the usefulness of FECG in clinical settings.

Effects of antenatal steroid therapy on neurodevelopment in an IUGR mouse model.

Background/objective: To investigate the neurodevelopmental response in postnatal mice secondary to antenatal steroid treatment in association with maternal protein restriction.

Methods: C57BL/6N pregnant mice (n = 24; 4 per treatment group) were administered control (C) or protein-restricted (PR) diets and subjected to daily subcutaneous injection stress during late gestation (E10-E17) with either 100 microl/kg of dexamethasone sodium phosphate in normosaline (C-D/S, PR-D/S) or normosaline alone (C-S, PR-S). Non-treatment groups were also included (C, PR).

The uterus sustains stable biological clock during pregnancy.

Maternal circadian information has been reported to play an important role in fetal physiology and development. Hormones and nutrition have been mainly investigated as circadian cues from mother to fetus. However, the influences of circadian properties of the pregnant reproductive organs on fetuses have not been fully investigated.

Surveys on the prevalence of pediatric bronchial asthma in Japan: a comparison between the 1982, 1992, and 2002 surveys conducted in the same region using the same methodology.

Background: We conducted and reported the first (1982; 55,388 subjects), and second (1992; 45,674 subjects), epidemiological surveys conducted on bronchial asthma in elementary students across 11 prefectures in western Japan. The 2 surveys were conducted in the same regions using the same methodology employing a modified Japanese version of the American Thoracic Society-Division of Lung Diseases (ATS-DLD) Epidemiology Questionnaire. We conducted the third survey in 2002, and compared the findings to those of previous studies.

Maternal feeding controls fetal biological clock.

Background: It is widely accepted that circadian physiological rhythms of the fetus are affected by oscillators in the maternal brain that are coupled to the environmental light-dark (LD) cycle.

Methodology/principal Findings: To study the link between fetal and maternal biological clocks, we investigated the effects of cycles of maternal food availability on the rhythms of Per1 gene expression in the fetal suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and liver using a transgenic rat model whose tissues express luciferase in vitro. Although the maternal SCN remained phase-locked to the LD cycle, maternal restricted feeding phase-advanced the fetal SCN and liver by 5 and 7 hours respectively within the 22-day pregnancy.

Prediction of preterm birth in symptomatic women using decision tree modeling for biomarkers.

Objective: The objective of the study was to use recursive partitioning (RP) to identify gestational age-specific and threshold values for infectious and endocrine biomarkers of imminent delivery.

Study Design: RP was developed using a previously collected data set and then applied to a prospectively collected cohort of women in threatened preterm labor. Predictors of preterm birth were considered, including white blood cell count (WBC), corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), cortisol, and maternal age.

Effect of the interaction between lipoxygenase pathway and progesterone on the regulation of hydroxysteroid 11-Beta dehydrogenase 2 in cultured human term placental trophoblasts.

Placental hydroxysteroid 11-beta dehydrogenase 2 (HSD11B2) plays an important role in pregnancy maintenance and fetal maturation. In the event of intrauterine infection, lipoxygenase (LOX) metabolites are produced in the placenta and contribute to preterm labor and adverse fetal outcomes. On the other hand, LOX metabolites are involved in production of progesterone, which is required for pregnancy maintenance.

Amphibian teeth: current knowledge, unanswered questions, and some directions for future research.

Elucidation of the mechanisms controlling early development and organogenesis is currently progressing in several model species and a new field of research, evolutionary developmental biology, which integrates developmental and comparative approaches, has emerged. Although the expression pattern of many genes during tooth development in mammals is known, data on other lineages are virtually non-existent. Comparison of tooth development, and particularly of gene expression (and function) during tooth morphogenesis and differentiation, in representative species of various vertebrate lineages is a prerequisite to understand what makes one tooth different from another.

Dynamics of capsule swallowing by healthy young men and capsule transit time from the mouth to the stomach.

We examined the dynamics of capsule swallowing by healthy young men using the anterior-posterior view of videofluoroscopy as a first step in a study on capsule swallowing by dysphagic patients. The subjects were 14 healthy men who did not have any complaint of dysphagia. They were asked to swallow a #4 hard gelatin capsule filled with barium sulfate with 15 ml of water during the videofluoroscopic examination.

Fetal myocardial thickening measured by ultrasonic-based technique called 'phased-tracking method'.

Objective: To evaluate fetal myocardial movement by using newly developed ultrasonic technique.

Methods: We analyzed 50 normal fetuses between 25 and 41 weeks' gestation for changes in thickness of fetal myocardium using the phased-tracking method, a technique with high vertical distance resolution and the potential to evaluate fine ventricular wall movements. We analyzed differences in the rate of change in ventricular wall thickness and in changes in the inner and outer wall layers with advancing gestation.

Clinical manifestations and outcomes of parvovirus B19 infection during pregnancy in Japan.

Parvovirus B19 is a small DNA virus. Infection with parvovirus B19 during pregnancy may cause serious complications in the fetus, including hydrops fetalis and fetal death. The purpose of the present study is to clarify the clinical manifestations and outcomes of parvovirus B19 infection during pregnancy.

Appearance of abnormal electrocorticogram patterns during umbilical cord compression in sheep fetus.

A frequent cause of fetal acidemia, which sometimes results in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, is umbilical cord compression associated with uterine contraction. Using a sheep model of fetal acidemia, we examined the changes in electrocorticogram (ECoG), carotid artery blood flow, arterial blood pressure and fetal heart rate during cord compression. A characteristic burst of ECoG spikes emerged during cord compression at fetal arterial pH 7.

IL-1beta treatment does not co-ordinately up-regulate mPGES-1 and COX-2 mRNA expression, but results in higher degree of cellular and intracellular co-localization of their immunoreactive proteins in human placenta trophoblast cells.

PGE2 is involved in initiation and progression of labor in many species. Biosynthesis of PGE2 is mediated by cyclooxygenases (COX) and prostaglandin E synthases (PGES). mPGES-1 and COX-2 form an inducible pathway for PGE2 production in many cell systems.

Life satisfaction and functional disabilities in long-term survivors after first stroke.

Despite good recovery from a stroke, the quality of life (QOL) of most stroke patients living in the community is not always restored in their acute or recovery phase. Our aim of this study was to evaluate the relation between basic/social functional disabilities and life satisfaction (one of the indicators of QOL) in long-term survivors after a first stroke. Sixty three consecutive outpatients who had received comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation after their first stroke participated in this cross-sectional study.

Effect of pro-inflammatory cytokines on expression and activity of 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 in cultured human term placental trophoblast and human choriocarcinoma JEG-3 cells.

Objective: 11Beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11beta-HSD2) is thought to act as a placental barrier protecting the fetus from high levels of maternal cortisol. On the other hand, intrauterine infection is one of the main causes of preterm birth and adverse fetal outcome, and pro-inflammatory cytokines may contribute to these adverse effects. However, the effect of pro-inflammatory cytokines on 11beta-HSD2 is still not clear.

Decrease and senescence of endothelial progenitor cells in patients with preeclampsia.

Background: In preeclampsia, the precise mechanism of impaired vascular function is still unclear. We hypothesized that cellular function of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) might be impaired in patients with preeclampsia.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the number and status of cellular senescence of EPCs in the circulation of women with preeclampsia.

Successful conservative treatment of a cesarean scar pregnancy with uterine artery embolization.

Ectopic pregnancy developing in a previous Cesarean section scar is rare and is associated with catastrophic complications, such as uterine rupture and uncontrollable bleeding, which may lead to loss of the uterus. The operative treatments that have been reported for cesarean scar pregnancy are dilatation and curettage and excision of trophoblastic tissues using either laparotomy or laparoscopy. Recently, conservative treatment of scar pregnancy with locally and/or systemically administered methotrexate (MTX) has been reported.

Clinical evaluation of the risk of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome using the relative power contribution of fetal heart rate fluctuations.

Objectives: In twin pregnancies, it has been suggested that fluctuations of the two fetal heart rates should be considered as two variates that affect each other. We therefore investigated whether the relative power contribution (RPC) of heart rate fluctuation between twins reflects the clinical severity of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.

Study Design: Sixty-three cases of twin pregnancy including 43 monochorionic twins and 20 dichorionic twins were studied.

Pulmonary thromboembolism following gynecologic surgery and cesarean section.

Objective: To investigate the incidence and risk factors of symptomatic pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) in patients following gynecologic surgery or cesarean section in Japan.

Method: We examined the clinical records of all patients who have undergone gynecologic surgery or cesarean section at 32 hospitals affiliated with the Tohoku University Hospital between 1990 and 1999.

Result: The total number of gynecologic surgical procedures and cesarean sections were 61648 and 26502, respectively.

Parvovirus B19 and the pathogenesis of anaemia.

Human parvovirus B19 (B19) infection causes human bone marrow failure, by affecting erythroid-lineage cells which are well-known target cells for B19. The anaemia induced by B19 infection is of minor clinical significance in healthy children and adults, however, it becomes critical in those afflicted with haemolytic diseases. This condition is called transient aplastic crisis, and the pathogenesis is explained by the short life-span of red blood cells.

Establishment of multifunctional monoclonal antibody to the nonstructural protein, NS1, of human parvovirus B19.

Objectives: NS1 expression of human parvovirus B19 is a critical event in B19 pathogenesis. However, the mechanisms of NS1-induced cytotoxicity in B19 infection have yet to be clarified mainly because of the absence of multifunctional monoclonal antibodies (Mab) against NS1. The purpose of this study was to establish such Mab, which function in immunoprecipitation assays, immunoblotting, indirect immunofluorescence, and immunohistochemical staining.