Publications by authors named "Maasoumah Makhseed"
Anti-inflammatory Th2 cytokines have been shown to be associated with healthy, successful pregnancy while pro-inflammatory Th1 and Th17 cytokines are associated with pregnancy loss due to recurrent spontaneous miscarriage. This nexus between unexplained recurrent spontaneous miscarriage (uRSM) and maternal inflammatory has led to the possibility of using pregnancy-related hormones to modify the maternal cytokine bias in a manner that is conducive to successful pregnancy. We investigated the ability of progesterone, dydrogesterone and estrogen to modulate cytokine production by peripheral blood lymphocytes from women undergoing uRSM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProblem: To study the ability of dydrogesterone to modulate the production of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines by lymphocytes from women undergoing pre-term delivery (PTD).
Method Of Study: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 18 subjects undergoing PTD were stimulated with the mitogen phytohemagglutinin in the presence and absence of progesterone and dydrogesterone. The levels of interferon (IFN)-gamma, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-4, and IL-10 in culture supernatants were then estimated by enzyme-linked immunoabsorbant assay.
Objective: To examine the effects of dydrogesterone on the production of Th1 and Th2 cytokines by lymphocytes from women undergoing unexplained recurrent spontaneous miscarriage (RSM).
Design: Controlled prospective, clinical study conducted in a maternity hospital and a university-based immunology laboratory.
Setting: Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University and Kuwait Maternity Hospital.
Problem: To determine the levels of cytokines produced upon mitogenic or antigenic stimulation of maternal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from women with pre-eclampsia.
Method Of Study: PBMC from 54 women with a history of successful pregnancy and 32 women undergoing pre-eclamptic delivery were stimulated with a mitogen or with autologous placental cells or with trophoblast antigens, and the levels of cytokines released into the culture supernatants then assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results: Significantly higher levels of the Th1 cytokines, interferon-gamma, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were produced by the pre-eclamptic group than by the normal pregnancy group, which on the contrary showed significantly greater production of the Th2 cytokines, interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-6 and IL-10.
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate several macroscopic and microscopic features of placenta in cases with impaired gestational glucose tolerance.
Methods: Seventy-five gm World Health Organization criteria for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes and impaired gestational glucose tolerance were followed during the period June 1999 through to June 2000, at the Maternity Hospital of Kuwait. Macroscopic and microscopic examinations of 95 placentas were carried out.
Problem: The objective of this study was to determine the levels of cytokines in the placentas of women undergoing preterm delivery (PTD) or premature rupture of membranes (PROM) as compared with women undergoing normal delivery at term.
Method Of Study: Placentas were obtained from 30 subjects with spontaneous PTD, 30 women with PROM and 30 women with a history of normal delivery at term. Levels of interleukin (IL)-2, interferon (IFN)-gamma, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, TNF-beta, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6 and IL-10 and IL-12 were estimated by ELISA in detergent lysates of placentas from the subjects.
Objective: The objective was to assess the status of essential trace elements such as copper, iron, molybdenum, selenium and zinc in insulin-dependent diabetic pregnancies at term and to compare the data with a control group. Fetal-maternal ratios of the elements and copper:zinc ratio were also computed in the control and study populations.
Methodology: Samples from maternal vein, umbilical artery and umbilical vein of diabetic and control women were collected at the time of spontaneous delivery or cesarean section and activities of trace elements evaluated by atomic absorption spectrophotometry.
Objective: To examine the temporal relationship among inhibin A, beta-hCG, and pro-alphaC in early pregnancy and to determine whether the measurement of these hormones has any role in prediction of pregnancy outcome in patients with recurrent spontaneous miscarriage.
Design: Prospective descriptive study.
Setting: A tertiary referral center for recurrent miscarriage.
Background: Estrogen and progesterone immunoregulate the genital environment by expression of cytokines and growth factors.
Objective: To investigate the pattern of expression of T-helper cytokines during the ovarian cycle compared with women with chronic anovulation resistant to clomiphene citrate.
Hypothesis: Expression of T-helper cytokines in women with chronic anovulation may be different from the pattern in women with a normal ovarian cycle.
Objective: To evaluate the recovery rate of sperm from the testis using percutaneous testicular aspiration with a 22-gauge hypodermic needle followed by evaluation of the fertilization rate and pregnancy rate after intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
Materials And Methods: This is a prospective observational study performed in a private in vitro fertilization setting in Kuwait. Fifteen patients with obstructive and non-obstructive azoospermia were included in the study.