Clinical chorioamnionitis at term X: microbiology, clinical signs, placental pathology, and neonatal bacteremia - implications for clinical care.

Objectives: Clinical chorioamnionitis at term is considered the most common infection-related diagnosis in labor and delivery units worldwide. The syndrome affects 5-12% of all term pregnancies and is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality as well as neonatal death and sepsis. The objectives of this study were to determine the (1) amniotic fluid microbiology using cultivation and molecular microbiologic techniques; (2) diagnostic accuracy of the clinical criteria used to identify patients with intra-amniotic infection; (3) relationship between acute inflammatory lesions of the placenta (maternal and fetal inflammatory responses) and amniotic fluid microbiology and inflammatory markers; and (4) frequency of neonatal bacteremia.

Prostaglandin and prostamide concentrations in amniotic fluid of women with spontaneous labor at term with and without clinical chorioamnionitis.

Objective: Prostaglandins (PGs) are considered universal mediators for the process of physiological parturition. This is based on observations that amniotic fluid concentrations of PGs are elevated prior to and during the onset of labor (mostly utilizing immunoassays). Distinguishing PGs from similarly structured molecules (i.

Preterm labor is characterized by a high abundance of amniotic fluid prostaglandins in patients with intra-amniotic infection or sterile intra-amniotic inflammation.

Objective: To distinguish between prostaglandin and prostamide concentrations in the amniotic fluid of women who had an episode of preterm labor with intact membranes through the utilisation of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Study Design: Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis of amniotic fluid of women with preterm labor and (1) subsequent delivery at term (2) preterm delivery without intra-amniotic inflammation; (3) preterm delivery with sterile intra-amniotic inflammation (interleukin (IL)-6>2.6 ng/mL without detectable microorganisms); and (4) preterm delivery with intra-amniotic infection [IL-6>2.

The plasma metabolome of women in early pregnancy differs from that of non-pregnant women.

Background: In comparison to the non-pregnant state, the first trimester of pregnancy is characterized by systemic adaptation of the mother. The extent to which these adaptive processes are reflected in the maternal blood metabolome is not well characterized.

Objective: To determine the differences between the plasma metabolome of non-pregnant and pregnant women before 16 weeks gestation.

Does the human placenta delivered at term have a microbiota? Results of cultivation, quantitative real-time PCR, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and metagenomics.

Background: The human placenta has been traditionally viewed as sterile, and microbial invasion of this organ has been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Yet, recent studies that utilized sequencing techniques reported that the human placenta at term contains a unique microbiota. These conclusions are largely based on the results derived from the sequencing of placental samples.