The Impact of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure on Longitudinal Growth, Nutritional Status, and Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 in Early Childhood in Leyte, the Philippines.

Objective: To assess the impact and potential mechanistic pathways of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on longitudinal growth and nutritional status in early childhood.

Study Design: A cohort of 296 mother-infant dyads (32% with PAE vs 68% unexposed) were recruited in Leyte, the Philippines, and followed from early gestation through 24 months of age. PAE was assessed using serum phosphatidylethanol (PEth) captured twice prenatally and in cord blood and supplemented with self-reported alcohol consumption.

Associations between placental pathology and poor intrauterine growth among a cohort of mother-infant singleton pairs in Leyte, the Philippines.

Objective: Poor intrauterine growth has negative impacts for child growth and development and disproportionately affects children living in low-resource settings. In the present study, we investigated relationships between placental pathologies and indicators of poor intrauterine growth.

Methods: We enrolled a longitudinal cohort of 279 mother-infant pairs from Leyte, the Philippines.

Fetal Ovarian Reserve: the Dynamic Changes in Ubiquitin C-Terminal Hydrolase L1.

The regulation of protein turnover by the unique deubiquitinating enzyme ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCHL1) is only seen in oocytes, spermatogonia, and neurons. Our objective was to investigate variation in expression of UCHL1 across fetal maturation of oocytes that result in lifelong ovarian reserve. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 25 fetal autopsy specimens from 21 to 36 weeks.

Dietary soy prevents fetal demise, intrauterine growth restriction, craniofacial dysmorphic features, and impairments in placentation linked to gestational alcohol exposure: Pivotal role of insulin and insulin-like growth factor signaling networks.

Introduction: Prenatal alcohol exposure can impair placentation and cause intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), fetal demise, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Previous studies showed that ethanol's inhibition of placental insulin and insulin-like growth factor, type 1 (IGF-1) signaling compromises trophoblastic cell motility and maternal vascular transformation at the implantation site. Since soy isolate supports insulin responsiveness, we hypothesized that dietary soy could be used to normalize placentation and fetal growth in an experimental model of FASD.

Gaming for Adherence to Medication using Ehealth in Rheumatoid arthritis (GAMER) study: a randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To examine the effect on adherence to disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in participants with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) of a serious game that targeted implicit attitudes toward medication.

Methods: A multicentre randomised controlled trial (RCT) was performed with adults with RA that used DMARDs and possessed a smartphone/tablet. Control and intervention groups received care as usual.

Change in retinal vessel diameter and choroidal thickness in patients with severe COVID-19: Change In Retinal Parameters In Patients With Severe COVID-19.

Purpose: To compare the differences in retinal vascular structure and choroidal thickness between the active disease and post-recovery periods in COVID-19 patients and healthy controls.

Material And Methods: This prospective, cross-sectional study included 30 eyes from 30 patients with severe COVID-19 and 30 eyes of 30 sex-matched healthy controls. Central macular thickness (CMT), subfoveal choroidal thickness (CT) and retinal vascular changes of patients were measured after positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (where the patient had COVID-19-related symptoms) and then three months after two negative PCRs.

Placental Findings in Infants with Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy: The Importance of the Comparison Group.

Objective: To determine the effect of 3 distinct comparison groups on associations between placental abnormalities and neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).

Study Design: This single-center, prospective case-control study of singletons of gestational age ≥36 weeks with predefined criteria for HIE (n = 30) and 3 control groups was conducted from June 2015 to January 2018. The control groups were infants born by repeat cesarean delivery (n = 60), infants born small for gestational age (SGA; n = 80), and infants receiving positive-pressure ventilation (PPV) at birth (n = 70).

Iron transport across the human placenta is regulated by hepcidin.

Background: Transport of iron across the placenta is critical for appropriate development of the fetus. Iron deficiency during pregnancy remains a major public health concern, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, often exacerbated by infectious diseases leading to altered iron trafficking via inflammatory responses. Herein, we investigate the role of hepcidin, a master regulator of iron homeostasis, on regulation of iron transport across trophoblast cells.

Placental findings among newborns with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.

Objective: To determine if pre-specified placental abnormalities among newborns with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) differ compared to newborns admitted to a NICU without encephalopathy.

Study Design: Retrospective case-control study of newborns with HIE (2006-2014) and controls matched for birth year, gestational age, weight, and gender. One pathologist reviewed archived placental sections using pre-specified criteria.

Plasma levels of endothelial cell-specific molecule-1 and pentraxin-3 in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Objectives: To evaluate the plasma levels of endothelial cell-specific molecule-1 (ESM-1) and pentraxin-3 (PTX-3) in patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss, and to compare the pre- and post-treatment levels in patients responsive and non-responsive to therapy.

Methods: The study included 108 subjects: 51 with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss and 57 controls. For ESM-1 and PTX-3 analyses, blood samples were collected before and three months after treatment initiation in the idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss group and once for the control group.

Redness discordance in monochorionic twin placentas: Correlation with clinical and placental findings.

Introduction/objectives: Recent studies suggest redness (color) discordance of the placental basal plate may be a marker for twin anemia-polycythemia sequence (TAPS), a recently described complication of diamniotic-monochorionic twinning characterized by marked intertwin hemoglobin (Hb) discordance in the absence of oligohydramnios-polyhydramnios. In this study, we determined the clinicoplacental and choriovascular correlates of basal plate color discordance in monochorionic twin placentas, and assessed its value as postnatal indicator of TAPS.

Methods: We performed a clinicoplacental analysis of 100 consecutive non-TTTS diamniotic-monochorionic twin placentas with available photographic documentation of the basal plate.

Placental Morphology in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.

Aims: Maternal alcohol drinking adversely affects pregnancy outcome. Although fetal health and development are highly dependent upon the integrity of placentation, little is known about placental morphology following gestational exposure to alcohol in humans.

Methods: In this clinical study, subjects were recruited between 2010 and 2013 from an outpatient substance abuse and mental health treatment center for women.

Objective Determination of Retinal Function in Bietti Crystalline Retinopathy.

A 44-year-old female patient without any known systemic or ocular disease presented with progressive visual loss and night vision disturbance. Visual acuity was 0.6 in the right eye and 0.

Choroidal and macular thickness changes in type 1 diabetes mellitus patients without diabetic retinopathy.

Objectives: To explore choroidal thickness (ChT) and retinal thickness (RT) changes in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM).

Methods: Sixty patients with Type 1 DM and 60 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were included in this prospective case-control clinical study. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmological examination.

Is overactive bladder a nervous or bladder disorder? Autonomic imaging in patients with overactive bladder via dynamic pupillometry.

Purpose: To evaluate the changes in dynamic pupillometry in patients with idiopathic overactive bladder (OAB).

Methods: The study included 40 female patients with idiopathic OAB and 40 healthy female volunteers as a control group. Demographic and clinical data were recorded.

Delayed visual loss due to radiation retinopathy.

Radiation retinopathy remains a devastating cause of visual morbidity in patients undergoing radiation for globe, orbit, and head and neck malignancies. A 65-year-old female was admitted with the complaint of low vision in the right eye for two months. Best corrected visual acuity was 20/32 in the right eye and 20/25 in the left eye.

Diabetic Macular Edema.

Unlabelled: Diabetic macular edema (DME), one the most prevalent causes of visual loss in industrialized countries, may be diagnosed at any stage of diabetic retinopathy. The diagnosis, treatment, and follow up of DME have become straightforward with recent developments in fundus imaging, such as optical coherence tomography. Laser photocoagulation, intravitreal injections, and pars plana vitrectomy surgery are the current treatment modalities; however, the positive effects of currently available intravitreally injected agents are temporary.