Associations between prenatal distress, mitochondrial health, and gestational age: findings from two pregnancy studies in the USA and Turkey.

Background: Pregnancy outcomes are influenced by maternal distress but the pathways underlying these effects are still unknown. Mitochondria, crucial for stress adaptation and energy production, may link psychosocial stress to its biological effects, especially during pregnancy when energy demands significantly increase. This study explores two mitochondrial markers-circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA (cf-mtDNA) and Growth Differentiation Factor-15 (GDF15)-as potential mitochondrial health indicators linking maternal distress to pregnancy outcomes in two longitudinal studies from the USA and Turkey.

The Energetic Stress Marker GDF15 is Induced by Acute Psychosocial Stress.

GDF15 (growth differentiation factor 15) is a marker of cellular and mitochondrial energetic stress linked to physical-mental illness, aging, and mortality. Here, we describe the psychobiological regulation of plasma and saliva GDF15 in four human studies including 3,599 samples from 148 healthy individuals. We report two main observations establishing GDF15 as a novel tractable biomarker of psychosocial stress.

Analysis of fatty acid composition and sensitivity to dietary n-3 PUFA intervention of mouse n-3 PUFA-enriched tissues/organs.

Purpose: n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; C22:6 n3) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; C20:5 n3), are of concern for their health-promoting effects such as anti-inflammatory, but the tissue selectivity for n-3 PUFA (i.e., which tissues and organs are rich in n-3 PUFA) is still not well known.

Amide Proton Transfer-Weighted Imaging Combined with ZOOMit Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging in Predicting Lymph Node Metastasis of Cervical Cancer.

Background: The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of amide proton transfer-weighted (APTw) imaging combined with ZOOMit diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) in predicting lymph node metastasis (LNM) in cervical cancer (CC).

Materials And Methods: Sixty-one participants with pathologically confirmed CC were included in this retrospective study. The APTw MRI and ZOOMit diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) were acquired.

Reduced field-of-view DWI‑derived clinical-radiomics model for the prediction of stage in cervical cancer.

Background: Pretreatment prediction of stage in patients with cervical cancer (CC) is vital for tailoring treatment strategy. This study aimed to explore the feasibility of a model combining reduced field-of-view (rFOV) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)-derived radiomics with clinical features in staging CC.

Methods: Patients with pathologically proven CC were enrolled in this retrospective study.

Radiomics Nomogram Based on High--Value Diffusion-Weighted Imaging for Distinguishing the Grade of Bladder Cancer.

Background: The aim was to evaluate the feasibility of radiomics features based on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) at high -values for grading bladder cancer and to compare the possible advantages of high--value DWI over the standard -value DWI.

Methods: Seventy-four participants with bladder cancer were included in this study. DWI sequences using a 3 T MRI with -values of 1000, 1700, and 3000 s/mm were acquired, and the corresponding ADC maps were generated, followed with feature extraction.