Pre-pregnancy gene expression signatures are associated with subsequent improvement/worsening of rheumatoid arthritis during pregnancy.

Background: While many women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) improve during pregnancy and others worsen, there are no biomarkers to predict this improvement or worsening. In our unique RA pregnancy cohort that includes a pre-pregnancy baseline, we have examined pre-pregnancy gene co-expression networks to identify differences between women with RA who subsequently improve during pregnancy and those who worsen.

Methods: Blood samples were collected before pregnancy (T0) from 19 women with RA and 13 healthy women enrolled in our prospective pregnancy cohort.

Pregnancy-associated systemic gene expression compared to a pre-pregnancy baseline, among healthy women with term pregnancies.

Background: Pregnancy is known to induce extensive biological changes in the healthy mother. Little is known, however, about what these changes are at the molecular level. We have examined systemic expression changes in protein-coding genes and long non-coding (lnc) RNAs during and after pregnancy, compared to before pregnancy, among healthy women with term pregnancies.

Is gene expression among women with rheumatoid arthritis dysregulated during a postpartum flare?

Background: To evaluate our hypotheses that, when rheumatoid arthritis (RA) flares postpartum, gene expression patterns are altered compared to (a) healthy women, (b) RA women whose disease activity is low or in remission postpartum, and (c) pre-pregnancy expression profiles.

Methods: Twelve women with RA and five healthy women were included in this pilot study. RA disease activity and postpartum flare were assessed using the Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI).

The Rheumatoid Arthritis Gene Expression Signature Among Women Who Improve or Worsen During Pregnancy: A Pilot Study.

Objective: To assess whether gene expression signatures associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) before pregnancy differ between women who improve or worsen during pregnancy, and to determine whether these expression signatures are altered during pregnancy when RA improves or worsens.

Methods: Clinical data and blood samples were collected before pregnancy (T0) and at the third trimester (T3) from 11 women with RA and 5 healthy women. RA disease activity was assessed using the Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI).

Prediction of ABO hemolytic disease of the newborn using pre- and perinatal quantification of maternal anti-A/anti-B IgG titer.

Background: Hemolysis in fetus/newborns is often caused by maternal antibodies. There are currently no established screening procedures for maternal ABO antibodies harmful to fetus/newborn. We investigated the clinical significance, and predictive value of maternal anti-A/B titer for hyperbilirubinemia in ABO-incompatible newborns.

The Childbirth Experience Questionnaire (CEQ)-Validation of its use in a Danish-speaking population of new mothers stimulated with oxytocin during labour.

Background: When determining optimal treatment regimens, patient reported outcomes including satisfaction are increasingly appreciated. It is well established that the birth experience may affect the postnatal attachment to the newborn and the management of subsequent pregnancies and deliveries. As we have no robust validated Danish tool to evaluate the childbirth experience exists, we aimed to perform a transcultural adaptation of the Childbirth Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) to a Danish context.

Pregnancy-induced gene expression changes in vivo among women with rheumatoid arthritis: a pilot study.

Background: Little is known about gene expression changes induced by pregnancy in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and healthy women because the few studies previously conducted did not have pre-pregnancy samples available as baseline. We have established a cohort of women with RA and healthy women followed prospectively from a pre-pregnancy baseline. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that pregnancy-induced changes in gene expression among women with RA who improve during pregnancy (pregDAS) overlap substantially with changes observed among healthy women and differ from changes observed among women with RA who worsen during pregnancy (pregDAS).

Pregnancy-Induced Changes in Systemic Gene Expression among Healthy Women and Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Background: Pregnancy induces drastic biological changes systemically, and has a beneficial effect on some autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, specific systemic changes that occur as a result of pregnancy have not been thoroughly examined in healthy women or women with RA. The goal of this study was to identify genes with expression patterns associated with pregnancy, compared to pre-pregnancy as baseline and determine whether those associations are modified by presence of RA.