Humoral immunity in late-onset Pre-eclampsia and linkage with angiogenic and inflammatory markers.

Problem: Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a leading cause of maternal and foetal morbidity worldwide. Given the implication of immune mechanisms, we compared markers of humoral immunity in PE and their relationship to circulating markers of inflammation, angiogenic factors, and renal function.

Method Of Study: Serum samples from 88 previously healthy women admitted to hospital with PE and 107 healthy pregnant controls at term were analysed for serum immunoglobulins (Ig), including IgG subclasses and free light chain (sFLC) levels, beta-2 microglobulin (B2-M), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (HS-CRP), albumin, complement proteins (C3 & C4), creatinine, cystatin-C and the ratio of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFLT-1) and placental growth factor (PlGF).

A review of the methodological features of systematic reviews in fetal medicine.

Systematic reviews of fetal medicine can serve as a tool for translation of research findings from a few expert centres to a wider healthcare specialty. The extent to which reviews of fetal medicine research are systematic and unbiased is not known. In this review of systematic reviews in fetal medicine, we have searched without language restrictions, Medline, Embase, DARE (Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness), Cochrane Library (from database inception to 2005) and bibliographies of known reviews, and contacted experts to identify potentially relevant citations of literature for reviews of fetal medicine studies.

The accuracy of various tests for bacterial vaginosis in predicting preterm birth: a systematic review.

Objective: To determine the accuracy with which various types of tests for bacterial vaginosis predict spontaneous preterm birth in pregnant women.

Data Sources: Studies were identified without language restrictions through nine different databases, and manual searching of bibliographies of known primary and review articles.

Study Selection And Data Extraction: There are four different bacterial vaginosis testing methods: Gram staining tests using either Nugent's or Spiegel's criteria, and gas liquid chromatography are laboratory based, and the fourth method uses clinical (Amsel's) criteria to diagnose bacterial vaginosis.

Effectiveness of nifedipine versus atosiban for tocolysis in preterm labour: a meta-analysis with an indirect comparison of randomised trials.

Objective: To explore the effectiveness of nifedipine compared with atosiban for tocolysis in preterm labour.

Design: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials with meta-analysis using adjusted indirect comparison.

Population: Six hundred and seventy-nine women recruited in nine randomised trials evaluating the effectiveness of nifedipine versus beta-agonists, and 852 women recruited in four trials of atosiban versus beta-agonists.

Oxytocin antagonists for tocolysis in preterm labour -- a systematic review.

Background: Oxytocin antagonists have been shown to inhibit uterine contractions and delay preterm delivery. Our objective was to examine the clinical effectiveness and safety of oxytocin antagonists for tocolysis in preterm labour.

Material/methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register and Science Citation Index using the following Medical Subject Headings and textwords: oxytocin (antagonists and inhibitors), atosiban, antocin, oxytocin antagonists, oxytocin receptor antagonists and oxytocin inhibitors.