In vitro activity of five quinolones and analysis of the quinolone resistance-determining regions of gyrA, gyrB, parC, and parE in Ureaplasma parvum and Ureaplasma urealyticum clinical isolates from perinatal patients in Japan.

Ureaplasma spp. cause several disorders, such as nongonococcal urethritis, miscarriage, and preterm delivery with lung infections in neonates, characterized by pathological chorioamnionitis in the placenta. Although reports on antibiotic resistance in Ureaplasma are on the rise, reports on quinolone-resistant Ureaplasma infections in Japan are limited.

A1C but not serum glycated albumin is elevated because of iron deficiency in late pregnancy in diabetic women.

OBJECTIVE We have already reported that A1C is elevated because of iron deficiency in late pregnancy among nondiabetic pregnant women. This report examined whether the same phenomenon is observed in pregnant women with diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This longitudinal study was conducted in 17 pregnant women with diabetes (20-35 weeks of pregnancy).

A1C but not serum glycated albumin is elevated in late pregnancy owing to iron deficiency.

Objective: A1C levels have been shown to be elevated in relation to glycemia in late pregnancy, although the precise mechanisms remain undetermined. We hypothesized that iron deficiency is involved in the A1C increase in late pregnancy.

Research Design And Methods: In study 1, A1C, serum glycated albumin, erythrocyte indexes, and iron metabolism indexes were determined in 47 nondiabetic pregnant women not receiving iron supplementation who were divided into four groups according to gestational period (group I, 21-24 weeks; group II, 25-28 weeks; group III, 29-32 weeks; and group IV, 33-36 weeks).

Sonographic femur length to trunk cross area ratio: prediction of fetal outcome in 30 cases in which micromelia was suspected.

Aim: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the potential value of fetal routine sonographic biometry in evaluating micromelias.

Methods: Thirty fetuses had a presumptive diagnosis of micromelia from antepartum ultrasound examinations during the period between 1 April 1996 and 31 March 2005. The postnatal clinical features, final diagnoses and outcomes were examined to retrospectively compare these cases with biometric parameters obtained from routine antepartum ultrasound examinations.

Reduction of aquaporin-8 on fetal membranes under oligohydramnios in mice lacking prostaglandin F2 alpha receptor.

Aim: To investigate the association between aquaporin-8 (AQP-8: a water channel protein) expression in fetal membranes and oligohydramnios during near-term and postdate pregnancy, we set up an oligohydramnios model using prostaglandin F2 alpha receptor (FP)-deficient mice.

Methods: Pregnant FP-deficient mice from 14 to 21 gestational days (GD) were killed to measure the amniotic fluid volume (AFV), and fetal membranes were collected for the analysis of aquaporin-8 expression.

Results: The AFV was highest at 14 GD, and was significantly decreased to 28% and 0% at 20 GD and 21 GD, respectively, compared with the volume at 14 GD.

Impact of prepregnant body mass index and maternal weight gain on the risk of pregnancy complications in Japanese women.

Background: To analyze the association of pregnancy complications with prepregnant body mass index and weight gain during pregnancy in Japanese women.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted with 21,718 Japanese women with a singleton pregnancy. Pregnant women were grouped by prepregnant body mass index and evaluated for association with pregnancy complications using multivariate logistic regression analysis.

Secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor levels in cervicovaginal secretion of elderly women.

Objective: Secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI) is a potent inhibitor of human leukocyte elastase. The aim of the present study was to examine whether there is an association between the SLPI concentration in the cervicovaginal secretion (CS) and vaginal complaints of post-menopausal women.

Methods: Uterine cervix tissues and CS of peri- or post-menopausal women were obtained.

Effects of 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, a marker of oxidative stress, on the cyclooxygenase-2 of human placenta in chorioamnionitis.

Chorioamnionitis (CAM) is one of the causes of preterm labour. A recent study has indicated that NADPH oxidase, a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-producing enzyme, is activated in CAM. CAM is thought to be closely associated with oxidative stress.

Expression of fractalkine in the Fallopian tube and of CX3CR1 in sperm.

Background: Fractalkine is a CX(3)C chemokine that has chemoattractant activity for T cells, monocytes and natural killer (NK) cells. The objective of this study was 2-fold: to evaluate (i) the presence of fractalkine in the Fallopian tube and (ii) the existence of CX(3)CR1 (fractalkine receptor) in ejaculated sperm.

Methods And Results: Western blot analysis revealed that fractalkine protein was detected as a 95 kDa band in the isthmus, the ampulla and the infundibulum of the Fallopian tube.

Antenatal prediction of pulmonary hypoplasia by acceleration time/ejection time ratio of fetal pulmonary arteries by Doppler blood flow velocimetry.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop a new method for the antenatal prediction of pulmonary hypoplasia by Doppler blood flow velocimetry.

Study Design: One hundred seventy-seven fetuses (160 normal fetuses and 17 fetuses with congenital anomalies that may affect fetal lung growth and/or development) were studied. Blood flow waveforms at the main branches of the pulmonary arteries were recorded by Doppler echocardiography from 20 to 39 weeks of gestation.