What Is New in Contraception?: Best Articles From the Past Year.

This month we focus on current research in contraception. Dr. Resnik discusses five recent publications, which are concluded with a "bottom-line" that is the take-home message.

What Is New in Health Disparities?: Best Articles From the Past Year.

This month we focus on current research in health disparities. Dr. Resnik discusses six recent publications, which are concluded with a "bottom line" that is a take-home message.

Periviable birth: Interim update.

Approximately 0.5% of all births occur before the third trimester of pregnancy, and these very early deliveries result in the majority of neonatal deaths and more than 40% of infant deaths. A recent executive summary of proceedings from a joint workshop defined periviable birth as delivery occurring from 20 0/7 weeks to 25 6/7 weeks of gestation.

#3: Periviable birth.

Approximately 0.5% of all births occur before the third trimester of pregnancy, and these very early deliveries result in the majority of neonatal deaths and more than 40% of infant deaths. A recent executive summary of proceedings from a joint workshop defined periviable birth as delivery occurring from 20 0/7 weeks to 25 6/7 weeks of gestation.

Osteopontin is required for the early onset of high fat diet-induced insulin resistance in mice.

Background: Insulin resistance is manifested in muscle, adipose tissue, and liver and is associated with adipose tissue inflammation. The cellular components and mechanisms that regulate the onset of diet-induced insulin resistance are not clearly defined.

Methodology And Principal Findings: We initially observed osteopontin (OPN) mRNA over-expression in adipose tissue of obese, insulin resistant humans and rats which was normalized by thiazolidinedione (TZD) treatment in both species.

Multi-tissue, selective PPARγ modulation of insulin sensitivity and metabolic pathways in obese rats.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) ligands, including the insulin-sensitizing thiazolidinedione drugs, transcriptionally regulate hundreds of genes. Little is known about the relationship between PPARγ ligand-specific modulation of cellular mechanisms and insulin sensitization. We characterized the insulin sensitivity and multitissue gene expression profiles of lean and insulin-resistant, obese Zucker rats untreated or treated with one of four PPARγ ligands (pioglitazone, rosiglitazone, troglitazone, and AG-035029).

Evaluation of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels in normal and preeclamptic women.

Objective: B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is synthesized in cardiac ventricles in response to volume expansion. This study evaluated BNP levels to determine trends during pregnancy, and to assess BNP as a diagnostic tool in preeclampsia.

Study Design: We studied 163 BNP levels in 118 pregnant women, ranging from first trimester to term.

Insulin-induced beta-arrestin1 Ser-412 phosphorylation is a mechanism for desensitization of ERK activation by Galphai-coupled receptors.

Beta-arrestin1 is an adapter/scaffold for many G protein-coupled receptors during mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling. Phosphorylation of beta-arrestin1 at position Ser-412 is a regulator of beta-arrestin1 function, and in the present study, we showed that insulin led to a time- and dose-dependent increase in beta-arrestin1 Ser-412 phosphorylation, which blocked isoproterenol- and lysophosphatidic acid-induced Ser-412 dephosphorylation and impaired ERK signaling by these G protein-coupled receptor ligands. Insulin treatment also led to accumulation of Ser-412-phosphorylated beta-arrestin1 at the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor and prevented insulin-like growth factor 1/Src association.