Obesity impairs cell-mediated immunity during the second trimester of pregnancy.

Objective: Obese pregnancy is associated with significantly higher rates of infection, which can harm both mother and fetus. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of obesity on maternal blood immune function.

Study Design: This was a cross-sectional, case control study of 15 obese (Ob) and 15 lean (Lc) subjects.

PRX-00023, a selective serotonin 1A receptor agonist, reduces ultrasonic vocalizations in infant rats bred for high infantile anxiety.

To address the development of early anxiety disorders across the lifespan, the High USV line of rats was bred based on rates of infant ultrasonic vocalization in the 40-50 kHz range of predominant frequencies (USV) to maternal separation at postnatal day (P) 10. In this study, rates of USV in High line infants (pups: Postnatal Day 11+/-1) were compared to those of randomly-bred controls in response to EPIX compound PRX-00023, a unique serotonin (5-HT) agonist, acting exclusively at the 5-HT1A receptor, or buspirone, a nonspecific 5HT1A agonist. After testing, pups were examined for sedation and other drug-related effects.