The clinical content of preconception care: reproductive history.

A history of previous birth of a low birthweight infant, previous cesarean sections, multiple previous spontaneous abortions, prior stillbirth, or uterine anomaly identifies women at increased risk for recurrent abortion, preterm birth, or stillbirth. We review the evidence for the potential benefit of reproductive history in identifying strategies for evaluation and treatment to prevent recurrent adverse pregnancy outcome. We offer evidence-based recommendations for management of women with these histories.

A new model for inflammation-induced preterm birth: the role of platelet-activating factor and Toll-like receptor-4.

Preterm birth is a leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Despite a growing body of evidence correlating inflammation with preterm birth, the signal transduction pathways responsible for the emptying of the uterus in the setting of intrauterine inflammation has not been elucidated. We now report a unique, reproducible mouse model of localized intrauterine inflammation.

Cloning and tissue expression of the tissue prothrombinase Fgl-2 in the Sprague-Dawley rat.

Objective: To sequence and characterize the expression of the prothrombinase Fgl-2 in the Sprague-Dawley rat.

Methods: Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was performed on RNA from spontaneously cycling adult pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats by using specific Fgl-2 primers. The resulting amplicon was also used to screen a rat spleen bacteriophage library and to probe a Northern blot of various tissues.