Pre-eclampsia and risk of subsequent hypertension: in an American Indian population.

Background And Objectives: Pre-eclampsia (PE) shares a number of proposed pathophysiologic mechanisms related to those implicated in cardiovascular disease (CVD), such as endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, insulin resistance, and impaired renal regulation. PE has also been associated with subsequent hypertension, CVD, and related mortality in later life.

Methods: At follow-up, the four most recent blood pressures, body mass index (BMI), and use of hypertensive medications were recorded from clinic visits of 130 PE cases and 289 normal pregnancies.

Correction: Two Variants of the C-Reactive Protein Gene Are Associated with Risk of Pre-Eclampsia in an American Indian Population.

[This corrects the article on p. e71231 in vol. 8.

IBC CARe microarray allelic population prevalences in an American Indian population.

Background: The prevalence of variant alleles among single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is not well known for many minority populations. These population allele frequencies (PAFs) are necessary to guide genetic epidemiology studies and to understand the population specific contribution of these variants to disease risk. Large differences in PAF among certain functional groups of genes could also indicate possible selection pressure or founder effects of interest.

Two variants of the C-reactive protein gene are associated with risk of pre-eclampsia in an American Indian population.

Background: The etiology of pre-eclampsia (PE) is unknown; but it is accepted that normal pregnancy represents a distinctive challenge to the maternal immune system. C-reactive protein is a prominent component of the innate immune system; and we previously reported an association between PE and the CRP polymorphism, rs1205. Our aim was to explore the effects of additional CRP variants.

Impact of aging on rat bone marrow-derived stem cell chondrogenesis.

Damaged articular cartilage rarely heals or regenerates in middle-aged and elderly adults, suggesting that the chondrogenic potential of mesenchymal stem cells declines with age. To test this hypothesis, we measured the responses of rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) to chondrogenic induction in vitro. BMSCs from immature rats (1 week old), young adult rats (12 weeks old), and old adult rats (1 year old) were analyzed for cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM) production.