Group B streptococcus induces cellular senescence in human amnion epithelial cells through a partial interleukin-1-mediated mechanism.

Group B streptococcus (GBS) infection is a significant public health concern associated with adverse pregnancy complications and increased neonatal mortality and morbidity. However, the mechanisms underlying the impact of GBS on the fetal membrane, the first line of defense against pathogens, are not fully understood. Here, we propose that GBS induces senescence and inflammatory factors (IL-6 and IL-8) in the fetal membrane through interleukin-1 (IL-1).

Restless Legs Syndrome and Sleep-Wake Disturbances in Pregnancy.

Study Objectives: To estimate the association of restless legs syndrome (RLS) and its frequency with sleep-wake disturbances in pregnancy.

Methods: A cohort of 1,563 women in their third trimester of pregnancy were recruited from prenatal clinics between March 2007 and December 2010. Demographic, pregnancy, and delivery data were extracted from medical records and sleep information was collected with questionnaires.

The trichloroethylene metabolite S-(1,2-dichlorovinyl)-l-cysteine but not trichloroacetate inhibits pathogen-stimulated TNF-α in human extraplacental membranes in vitro.

Extraplacental membranes define the gestational compartment and provide a barrier to infectious microorganisms ascending the gravid female reproductive tract. We tested the hypothesis that bioactive metabolites of trichloroethylene (TCE) decrease pathogen-stimulated innate immune response of extraplacental membranes. Extraplacental membranes were cultured for 4, 8, and 24h with the TCE metabolites trichloroacetate (TCA) or S-(1,2-dichlorovinyl)-l-cysteine (DCVC) in the absence or presence of lipoteichoic acid (LTA) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to simulate infection.

Role of cytokine signaling in group B Streptococcus-stimulated expression of human beta defensin-2 in human extraplacental membranes.

Problem: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. We tested the hypothesis that the choriodecidua plays a role in GBS-stimulated human beta defensin(HBD)-2 increases in amnion cells through a secreted factor of choriodecidual origin.

Method Of Study: Human amnion epithelial cells were treated with choriodecidual GBS-conditioned medium, live GBS, lipoteichoic acid (LTA), or lipopolysaccharide (LPS), with and without IL-1 inhibitors.

Snoring during pregnancy and delivery outcomes: a cohort study.

Study Objective: This cohort study examined the impact of maternal snoring on key delivery outcomes such as mode of delivery, infant birth centile, and small-for-gestational age.

Design: Cohort study.

Setting: A large tertiary medical center.

Myomectomy during cesarean delivery.

Background: The optimal management of leiomyomas during cesarean delivery is unclear.

Objectives: To assess the safety of myomectomy performed during cesarean delivery.

Search Strategy: PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library were searched to identify potentially relevant studies published prior to June 30, 2012.

Pregnancy-onset habitual snoring, gestational hypertension, and preeclampsia: prospective cohort study.

Objective: This study aimed to prospectively examine the impact of chronic vs pregnancy-onset habitual snoring on gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, and gestational diabetes.

Study Design: Third-trimester pregnant women were recruited from a large, tertiary medical center from March 2007 through December 2010 and screened for the presence and duration of habitual snoring, as a known marker for sleep-disordered breathing. Clinical diagnoses of gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, and gestational diabetes were obtained.

Validation of Watch-PAT-200 against polysomnography during pregnancy.

Study Objectives: To determine the relationships between key variables obtained from ambulatory polysomnography (PSG) and the wrist-worn Watch-PAT 200 device in pregnant women.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, women in their third trimester of pregnancy underwent full overnight home PSG using the 22-channel MediPalm system and the Watch-PAT 200 device. PSGs were scored by a blinded, experienced technologist using AASM 2007 criteria; the Watch-PAT was scored automatically by the manufacturer's proprietary software.

Tissue-specific induction of COX-2 and prostaglandins in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated extraplacental human gestational membranes in a 2-chamber transwell culture system.

The current study investigates tissue-specific prostaglandin secretion and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) induction in full-thickness human gestational membranes. Gestational membranes were collected from healthy, nonlaboring cesarean deliveries at 37 to 39 weeks gestation and cultured in 2-chamber Transwell devices. Lipopolysaccharide exposure (100 ng/mL for 8 hours) elevated prostaglandin E(2) and F(2α) concentrations in the amniotic chamber medium regardless of whether exposure was to the amniotic, decidual, or both sides of the membranes.

National survey of obstetrician attitudes about timing the subsequent pregnancy after perinatal death.

Objective: After stillbirth or early infant death, parents often query when they can try for another pregnancy. We conducted a national survey of US obstetricians to assess attitudes about optimal timing of next pregnancy and advice given to parents.

Study Design: The study was an anonymous mail survey of 1500 randomly selected US obstetricians asking about physician experiences with perinatal death.

Tissue-specific cytokine release from human extra-placental membranes stimulated by lipopolysaccharide in a two-compartment tissue culture system.

Background: The extra-placental gestational membranes secrete cytokines in response to bacteria and other infectious agents, with potentially adverse consequences for pregnancy. The present study used lipopolysaccharide (LPS) as a prototype endotoxin to investigate the pattern of stimulated cytokine release from the amniotic and choriodecidual sides of full-thickness human gestational membranes in a two-compartment tissue culture system.

Methods: Gestational membranes were collected from healthy non-laboring caesarean deliveries at term.

Trauma during pregnancy: outcomes and clinical management.

Trauma affects up to 6% to 7% of all pregnancies, and accounts for up to 46% of maternal death. Adverse consequences such as preterm labor and delivery, abruptio, fetomaternal hemorrhage, and fetal demise may be seen with even apparently minor degrees of injury. Maternal physiologic considerations are reviewed and a protocol for evaluation and management of the injured gravida is presented.

Preventive counseling among women with histories of gestational diabetes mellitus.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between recall of recommendations for diabetes prevention and both health behaviors and screening among women with histories of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Research Design And Methods: We surveyed 228 women with histories of GDM within the past 5 years who were enrolled in a university-affiliated managed care plan. In a cross-sectional analysis, we assessed the association between recall of health care provider advice and both postpartum lifestyle behaviors and reported performance of postpartum diabetes screening.

Risk factors for the breakdown of perineal laceration repair after vaginal delivery.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors that are associated with the breakdown of perineal laceration repair in the postpartum period.

Study Design: We conducted a retrospective, case-control study to review perineal laceration repair breakdown in patients who were delivered between September 1995 and February 2005 at the University of Michigan. Bivariate analysis with chi-square test and t-test and stepwise logistic regression analysis were performed.

Uncoupling-mediated generation of reactive oxygen by halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons in mouse liver microsomes.

Studying liver microsomes from 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)-induced or vehicle-treated (noninduced) mice, we evaluated the in vitro effects of added chemicals on the production of reactive oxygen due to substrate/P450-mediated uncoupling. The catalase-inhibited NADPH-dependent H(2)O(2) production (luminol assay) was lower in induced than noninduced microsomes. The effects of adding chemicals (2.

Subsequent pregnancy outcome in women with a history of HELLP syndrome at < or = 28 weeks of gestation.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe subsequent pregnancy outcome in women with a history of hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count syndrome for which delivery occurred at < or = 28 weeks of gestation during the index pregnancy.

Study Design: A descriptive report of women with previous hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count syndrome who were delivered between August 1984 and July 1998 at the E.H.

Late postpartum eclampsia: a preventable disease?

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a shift in the timing of eclampsia in relation to delivery and whether traditional symptoms precede impending postpartum eclampsia.

Study Design: A multicenter analysis of data from patients with eclampsia from March 1996 through February 2001 at the University of Cincinnati, the University of Tennessee, Memphis, and Central Baptist Hospital, Lexington. Data were collected regarding the relationship of the patient's first seizure to delivery, prodromal symptoms, neuroimaging studies, use of magnesium sulfate, antihypertensive therapy, and follow-up medical care.