Effects of different physical exercise types on health outcomes of individuals with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: a prospective randomized controlled clinical study.

Objective: To explore the impacts of different types of physical exercise on health outcomes of individuals with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDPs).

Methods: Forty individuals with HDPs admitted to a tertiary hospital providing maternal and pediatric care between July 2023 and March 2024 were enrolled in this prospective randomized controlled clinical study and completed a ≥4-week intervention. Data were collected before the intervention and before delivery.

Metabolomic profiling of serum and tongue coating of pregnant women with intrahepatic cholestasis in pregnancy.

Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is associated with an increased risk of cesarean section and adverse fetal outcomes. Currently, ICP diagnosis depends largely on serum levels of bile acids and lacks sensitivity and specificity for accurate diagnosis. Tongue diagnosis is an important diagnostic tool in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and is used in our clinic as complementary treatment and personalized medicine for ICP.

Maternal BMI changes from the prepregnancy to postpartum period are associated with postpartum cardiometabolic risk factors: a longitudinal study.

Purpose: This study aimed at investigating the associations between the total body mass index (BMI) change at 3 or 4 years postpartum compared to the prepregnancy and cardiometabolic risk factors.

Methods: This longitudinal study included 1305 participants. Based on the total postpartum BMI changes, they were divided into < 0 units, 0-1.

A meta-analysis of pre-pregnancy maternal body mass index and placental DNA methylation identifies 27 CpG sites with implications for mother-child health.

Higher maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (ppBMI) is associated with increased neonatal morbidity, as well as with pregnancy complications and metabolic outcomes in offspring later in life. The placenta is a key organ in fetal development and has been proposed to act as a mediator between the mother and different health outcomes in children. The overall aim of the present work is to investigate the association of ppBMI with epigenome-wide placental DNA methylation (DNAm) in 10 studies from the PACE consortium, amounting to 2631 mother-child pairs.

An engineered (CAGA)-EGFP cell-based biosensor for high-content and accurate detection of active TGF-β.

Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) regulates multiple fundamental physiological processes and is closely related to severe diseases such as cancer, fibrosis, immune disorders and cardiovascular diseases. TGF-β is thus an important biomarker for clinical diagnosis and prognosis, and a crucial target for therapeutics development. Here we describe a high-content, serum-free, easy-to-use, and cost-effective (CAGA)-EGFP cell-based biosensor for accurate measurements of active TGF-β.

Placental weight mediates association between prenatal exposure to cooking oil fumes and preterm birth.

There are some reports on association between maternal prenatal cooking oil fume (COF) exposure and preterm birth (PTB), but its mechanism remains poorly understood. Therefore, this study aims to assess whether placental weight mediates their associations. We enrolled 619 pregnant women delivering PTB newborns as cases and 1701 delivering full-term appropriate for gestational age newborns as controls.

Abnormal placental DNA methylation variation in spontaneous preterm birth.

Objective: Preterm birth (PTB) has become a major public health concern as the leading cause of neonatal death, but little is understood about its etiology. Children born preterm are also at increased risk of long-term consequences such as neurodevelopmental disorders, adulthood hypertension and diabetes. Recent studies have indicated that DNA methylation may be involved in the occurrence of PTB as well as related adverse outcomes.

Selenium-associated DNA methylation modifications in placenta and neurobehavioral development of newborns: An epigenome-wide study of two U.S. birth cohorts.

Background/aim: Selenium (Se) levels in pregnancy have been linked to neurobehavioral development of the offspring. DNA methylation is a potential mechanism underlying the impacts of environmental exposures on fetal development; however, very few studies have been done elucidating the role of DNA methylation linking prenatal Se and child neurobehavior. We aimed to investigate the associations between placental Se concentration and epigenome-wide DNA methylation in two U.

Environmentally Induced Epigenetic Plasticity in Development: Epigenetic Toxicity and Epigenetic Adaptation.

Purpose Of Review: Epigenetic processes represent important mechanisms underlying developmental plasticity in response to environmental exposures. The current review discusses three classes of environmentally-induced epigenetic changes reflecting two aspects of that plasticity, toxicity effects as well as adaptation in the process of development.

Recent Findings: Due to innate resilience, epigenetic changes caused by environmental exposures may not always lead impairments but may allow the organisms to achieve positive developmental outcomes through appropriate adaptation and a buffering response.

Comparison of DNA methylation profiles associated with spontaneous preterm birth in placenta and cord blood.

Background: The etiology and mechanism of spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) are still unclear. Accumulating evidence has documented that various environmental exposure scenarios may cause maternal and fetal epigenetic changes, which initiates the focus on whether epigenetics can contribute to the occurrence of sPTB. Therefore, we conducted the current study to examine and compare the DNA methylation changes associated with sPTB in placenta and cord blood.

Maternal corticotropin-releasing hormone is associated with LEP DNA methylation at birth and in childhood: an epigenome-wide study in Project Viva.

Background: Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) plays a central role in regulating the secretion of cortisol which controls a wide range of biological processes. Fetuses overexposed to cortisol have increased risks of disease in later life. DNA methylation may be the underlying association between prenatal cortisol exposure and health effects.

Appetite during the second and third trimesters mediates the impact of prenatal environmental tobacco smoke exposure on symmetric full-term low birth weight.

To examine the relationship of prenatal environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure and full-term low birth weight (FT-LBW) when taking anthropometric proportionality into consideration, and explore whether appetite mediates their association. We conducted a case-control study among pregnant women at two Women and Children's Hospitals in Guangdong, China. Information was collected through interview and medical records review.

Association between prenatal exposure to cooking oil fumes and full-term low birth weight is mediated by placental weight.

Objective: Evidence regarding the association between prenatal exposure to cooking oil fumes (COF) and full-term low birth weight (FTLBW) is still controversial, and the mechanism remains unclear. This study thus aims to explore the association of prenatal COF exposure with off-spring FT-LBW as well as the mediating role of placenta in their association.

Methods: A case-control study enrolling 266 pregnant women delivering FTLBW newborns (cases) and 1420 delivering normal birth weight (NBW) newborns (controls) was conducted.

Placental surface area mediates the association between methylation in placenta and full-term low birth weight in girls.

Background: Fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 () gene encodes a protein of the fibroblast growth factor receptor family. gene expression is associated with the regulation of implantation process of placenta which plays a vital role in fetal growth. DNA methylation is widely known as a mechanism of fetal growth.

Rapid characterization of the absorbed chemical constituents of Tangzhiqing formula following oral administration using UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS.

Tangzhiqing formula, a Chinese herbal formula, is used for the treatment of type II diabetes and prediabetes. Although its effectiveness has been certified by clinical use, its absorbed chemical constituents are not comprehensively represented. Thence, in order to reveal potential bioactive components and metabolism of Tangzhiqing formula, an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry method was developed.

Maternal exercise during pregnancy reduces the risk of preterm birth through the mediating role of placenta.

Objective: The extent of research on maternal exercise during pregnancy and the risk of preterm birth (PTB) have grown substantially, but conclusions still remained controversial. Thus, this study aims to examine the relationship of maternal exercise during pregnancy and PTB and explore whether placenta mediates their relationship.

Study Design: We investigated 849 pregnant women delivering PTB newborns (cases) and 1306 delivering full-term appropriate for gestational age newborns (controls) in this case-control study.

Tissue differences in DNA methylation changes at AHRR in full term low birth weight in maternal blood, placenta and cord blood in Chinese.

Introduction: Very few study addressed the relationship between Aryl-hydrocarbon receptor repressor (AHRR) DNA methylation and low birth weight, especially in multiple tissues of mother-infant pairs. In this study, we aimed to investigate AHRR DNA methylation modification in cord blood, placenta and maternal blood between full term low birth weight (FT-LBW) and full term normal birth weight (FT-NBW) newborns.

Methods: We enrolled 90 FT-LBW and 90 FT-NBW mother-infant pairs, of which all placenta and cord blood samples were collected while 45 maternal blood samples of each group were collected.

The mediating role of placenta in the relationship between maternal exercise during pregnancy and full-term low birth weight.

Objective: To explore the association of maternal exercise during pregnancy with full-term low birth weight (FT-LBW) and whether placenta mediates their association.

Study Design: We investigated 326 pregnant women delivering FT-LBW weight newborns (cases) and 1644 delivering full-term normal birth weight newborns (controls) in this case-control study. Information concerning maternal exercise during pregnancy, socio-demographics and obstetric characteristics were collected at Women and Children's Hospitals of Shenzhen and Foshan in Guangdong, China.

Deep brain stimulation of the amygdala alleviates fear conditioning-induced alterations in synaptic plasticity in the cortical-amygdala pathway and fear memory.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the amygdala has been demonstrated to modulate hyperactivity of the amygdala, which is responsible for the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and thus might be used for the treatment of PTSD. However, the underlying mechanism of DBS of the amygdala in the modulation of the amygdala is unclear. The present study investigated the effects of DBS of the amygdala on synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity at cortical inputs to the amygdala, which is critical for the formation and storage of auditory fear memories, and fear memories.

[The study of EEG Higher Order Spectral Analysis technology].

The basic theory of Higher Order Spectral Analysis and the most generally used Bispectrum are introduced in the paper. By certain experiments of EEG signal acquisition and bispectrum analysis, it is showed that the Higher Order Spectrum has an advantage over power spectrum, which is based on Second Order Statistics, in processing non-linear signal and restraining Gauss noise signal.

[Methods of extracting AEP for monitoring the anesthetic depth].

Many researches have proved that auditory evoked potentials (AEP) can indicate the depth of anesthesia in the clinical practice. This paper introduces two methods of extracting AEP: the moving time average (MTA) model and the autoregressive model with exogenous input (ARX). In our study we used both the MTA model and the ARX model to extract AEP and the results show that using the ARX model can get the results significantly faster than using the MTA model, and the ARX model is more suitable for the real-time monitoring of the anesthetic depth.