Creatine and pregnancy outcomes: a prospective cohort study of creatine metabolism in low-risk pregnant females.

Background: Physiological adaptations during pregnancy alter nutrient and energy metabolism. Creatine may be important for maintaining cellular energy homeostasis throughout pregnancy. However, the impact of pregnancy on endogenous and exogenous creatine availability has never been comprehensively explored.

Maternal plasma vitamin D levels across pregnancy are not associated with neonatal birthweight: findings from an Australian cohort study of low-risk pregnant women.

Background: In utero environments can be highly influential in contributing to the development of offspring obesity. Specifically, vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is associated with adverse maternal and child health outcomes, however its relationship with offspring obesity remains unclear. We assessed maternal vitamin D status across pregnancy, change in plasma vitamin D concentrations and associations with neonatal birthweight, macrosomia and large for gestational age.

The effect of comorbidities on the sFLT-1:PlGF ratio in preeclampsia.

Research indicates that soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFLT-1) and placental growth factor (PLGF) have diagnostic and prognostic significance for women with preeclampsia. However, sparse research has studied these biomarkers in women with preexisting comorbidities such as chronic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, systemic lupus erythematosus and chronic kidney disease. We undertook a prospective longitudinal cohort study to compare the sFLT-1: PlGF ratio between women with and without comorbidities who did and did not go on to develop preeclampsia.

Comparison of circulating total sFLT-1 to placental-specific sFLT-1 e15a in women with suspected preeclampsia.

Introduction: Soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFLT-1), a circulating anti-angiogenic factor that binds and antagonizes placental growth factor (PlGF), appears key to preeclamptic pathophysiology. Two main sFLT-1 splice variants exist: sFLT-1 e15a and sFLT-1 i13. Total sFLT-1/PlGF ratios are increasingly used clinically; we explore whether using placental-specific sFLT-1 e15a improves test performance compared with total sFLT-1 in preeclampsia diagnosis.

The effect of preexisting medical comorbidities on the preeclamptic phenotype: a retrospective cohort study.

To compare the effect of comorbidities on the phenotype and outcomes of preeclampsia. A matched retrospective cohort study of women delivering at a tertiary maternity center following a diagnosis of preeclampsia. We collected data on signs and symptoms, biochemical markers, and maternal and perinatal outcomes.