Mitochondrial and glycolysis-regulatory gene expression profiles are associated with intrauterine growth restriction.

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is a major pregnancy complication with significant postnatal implications. IUGR is characterized by high placental oxidative stress (OS) and increased mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) abundance that altogether alter the placental metabolism. Such alterations may be captured by changes in the expression of mitochondrial-encoded oxidative phosphorylation genes and glycolysis-regulatory genes.

Influences of Maternal Stress during Pregnancy on the Epi/genome: Comparison of Placenta and Umbilical Cord Blood.

Background: Maternal stress during pregnancy is one of the major adverse environmental factors in utero that is capable of influencing health outcomes of the offspring throughout life. Both genetic and epigenetic processes are susceptible to environmental insults in utero and are potential biomarkers of the experienced environment including maternal stress.

Methods: We profiled expression level of six genes in hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis functioning (HSD11B2, SLC6A4, NR3C1, NR3C2, CRHR1 and CRHR2), two imprinted genes (IGF2 and H19) and one neurodevelopmental gene (EGR1), from 49 pairs of placenta and umbilical cord blood (UCB) samples from a birth cohort.

Global methylation in the placenta and umbilical cord blood from pregnancies with maternal gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and obesity.

Emerging evidence indicates that maternal medical risk during pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), preeclampsia, and obesity, predisposes the offspring to suboptimal development. However, the underlying biological/epigenetic mechanism in utero is still unknown. The current pilot study (N = 50) compared the levels of global methylation in the placenta and umbilical cord blood among women with and without each risk condition (GDM, preeclampsia, and obesity) and explored whether the levels of global methylation were associated with fetal/infant growth.

Language processing in children with cochlear implants: a preliminary report on lexical access for production and comprehension.

In this plenary paper, we present a review of language research in children with cochlear implants along with an outline of a 5-year project designed to examine the lexical access for production and recognition. The project will use auditory priming, picture naming with auditory or visual interfering stimuli (Picture-Word Interference and Picture-Picture Interference, respectively) and eye tracking paradigms to examine the roles of semantic and various phonological factors. Preliminary data are presented from auditory priming, picture-word interference and picture-picture interference tasks.