Placental expression of sFlt-1 and PlGF in early preeclampsia vs. early IUGR vs. age-matched healthy pregnancies.

Objective: To investigate whether differences between early preeclampsia and early fetal growth restriction can be explained by differential placental expression patterns of sFlt-1, Flt-1, and PlGF.

Methods: Placental tissues and maternal blood samples from six cases of preeclampsia, seven IUGR, and six age-matched controls were studied for mRNA and protein levels as well as protein localization and expression intensity.

Results: Neither placental PlGF mRNA and protein expression nor placental villous trophoblast expression intensity of PlGF was altered by placental dysfunction.

Diagnosis of preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction with the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio: Diagnostic accuracy of the automated immunoassay Kryptor®.

Objective: We aimed to characterize the diagnostic accuracy of the Kryptor® assay for sFlt-1 and PlGF in maternal serum samples of uneventful singleton pregnancies and subjects with preeclampsia (PE) and PE-related outcomes such as fetal growth restriction (FGR). Longitudinal reference ranges of the sFlt-1 and PlGF level in the course of normal pregnancies were generated.

Methods: A cohort of subjects with PE and PE-related outcomes including FGR in the third trimester was compared to a cohort of women with uneventful outcome.

Increased placental sFlt-1 but unchanged PlGF expression in late-onset preeclampsia.

Objective: To investigate whether differences between late-onset preeclampsia (PE) and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) can be explained by differential placental expression patters of sFlt-1, Flt-1, and placental growth factor (PlGF).

Methods: Placental tissues and maternal blood samples from seven patients with PE, five IUGR, and seven age-matched controls were studied for mRNA and protein levels as well as protein localization and expression intensity.

Results: Placental PlGF mRNA and protein expression were not altered by placental dysfunction while placental villous trophoblast expression intensity of PlGF was increased.

Cigarettes and the Somali diaspora: tobacco use among Somali adults in Minnesota.

Background: Since the onset of the Somali civil war in 1991, more than 1 million Somalis have been displaced from Somalia. Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the U.S.

Characteristics and prevalence of tobacco use among Somali youth in Minnesota.

Background: Somalis compose the largest African refugee group in the U.S., with more than 55,000 primary arrivals since 2000.

Tobacco use and cessation among Somalis in Minnesota.

Background: Somalis compose the largest African refugee group living in the U.S., with more than 10,330 primary arrivals in fiscal year 2006 alone.

Preparing residents to counsel about smoking.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of an innovative, multicomponent, theory-based educational intervention for pediatric residents on prevention of tobacco use counseling for cessation. Before and 3 months after intervention residents in a large urban midwestern pediatric residency program completed a self-assessment of measures of their attitudes and counseling behaviors. The intervention was a 3-hour multicomponent program including presentations, case discussions, role-plays and support material based on concepts from Motivational Interviewing (MI).