Associations between maternal plasma concentrations of corticotrophin releasing hormone and the placental transcriptome.

Introduction: The placenta produces corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH), which rises exponentially in maternal plasma across pregnancy. CRH plays a functional role in fetal development, labor initiation, and the regulation of gestational length. We aimed to understand how maternal plasma CRH during pregnancy reflects placental physiology during parturition by characterizing placental transcriptomic signatures of maternal plasma CRH and comparing to transcriptomic signatures of gestational age at birth.

Metabolomics of mothers of children with autism, idiopathic developmental delay, and Down syndrome.

Developmental delays have been associated with metabolic disturbances in children. Previous research in the childhood autism risk from genetics and the environment (CHARGE) case-control study identified neurodevelopment-related plasma metabolites in children, suggesting disturbances in the energy-related tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and 1-carbon metabolism (1CM). Here, we investigated associations between children's neurodevelopmental outcomes and their mothers' plasma metabolite profiles in a subset of mother-child dyads from CHARGE, including those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 209), Down syndrome (DS, n = 76), idiopathic developmental delay (iDD, n = 64), and typically developed (TD, n = 185) controls.

Proximal avulsion of the hamstring in young athlete patients: a case series and review of literature.

Hamstring injuries are a frequent occurrence of athletes, leading to a stop in practice and long-term alterations in sports performance. About 12% of these lesions involve avulsion at the level of the proximal insertion that can be complete (about 6%) or partial. Starting from an epidemiological and treatment evaluation of these lesions in literature, the aim of this study was to examine the functional outcomes and the rate of "return to play" in a population composed of athletes of various levels who have undergone surgery to reinsert the hamstring muscles at the ischial insertion, for a complete detachment of one or more tendon heads.

Associations Between Prenatal Vitamin D and Placental Gene Expression.

Background: Vitamin D is a hormone that regulates gene transcription. Prenatal vitamin D has been linked to immune and vascular function in the placenta, a key organ of pregnancy. Transcriptome-wide RNA sequencing can provide a more complete representation of the placental effects of vitamin D.