Influence of maternal nicotine exposure on neonatal rat bone: protective effect of ascorbic acid.

Limited research in young adults and immature animals suggests a detrimental effect of tobacco on bone during growth. We aimed to determine the adverse effects of maternal nicotine exposure during pregnancy and lactation on neonatal rat bone development, and to determine a protective effect of ascorbic acid. Gravid rats were assigned into three groups: two experimental and one control (group I).

The association of plasma homocysteine levels with serum leptin and apolipoprotein B levels in childhood obesity.

Background: An elevated plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) level has recently been established as an independent risk factor for thrombosis and vascular disease. However, the relationship between hyperhomocysteinemia and cardiovascular disease and obesity remains controversial. The aim of the study was to investigate a possible relationship between plasma tHcy levels and measures of childhood obesity.

Effects of hypertension and obesity on endometrial thickness.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of hypertension and obesity on endometrial thickness.

Study Design: Forty obese women with hypertension (Group 1), 28 non-obese women with hypertension (Group 2), 58 obese women (Group 3), 56 non-obese healthy women (Group 4), totally 182 postmenopausal women were included in this prospective study. All patients were examined, and Papanicolaou cervical smear was performed after interview.

Predictive value of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in preeclampsia.

Objective: To assess the measurement of plasma tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) as a predictive test for the development of preeclampsia.

Study Design: One-hundred and twenty pregnant women were included in this prospective longitudinal study. Maternal plasma TNF-alpha levels were measured in the first, second and third trimesters by immunosorbent assay (ELISA).