Association of cardiovascular risk factors and myocardial hypertrophy in women with preeclampsia history.

Aims: A historic of preeclampsia (PE) has been associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women. There are substantial evidences that cardiovascular changes resulting from PE can persist even after pregnancy end. Therefore, the aims was to evaluate the prevalence of myocardial hypertrophy in young women 12 months after PE event as well as try to identify risk factors for these changes.

Unplanned pregnancy in Brazil: national study in eight university hospitals.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of unplanned pregnancy in eight public university hospitals, distributed in the five regions that make up Brazil.

Methods: A secondary analysis of a national multicenter cross-sectional study, carried out in eight public university hospitals between June 1 and August 31, 2020, in Brazil. Convenience sample including women who gave birth within sixty consecutive days and met the following criteria: over 18 years old; gestational age over 36 weeks at delivery; with a single and live newborn, without malformations.

Evolution of Myocardial Hypertrophy Associated With Pregnancy in Hypertensive Women Six Months Postpartum.

Systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) is one of the principal risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease. When a hypertensive woman becomes pregnant, new hemodynamic condition is installed, with addition from chronic pressure overload to chronic volume overload. This new hemodynamic condition can provide greater myocardial hypertrophy(LVH), whose postpartum evolution has been little studied in the literature.

Uncorrected pentalogy of Fallot with successful pregnancy-A case report.

Pentalogy of Fallot (PoF) is a congenital heart disease comprising tetralogy of Fallot plus an atrial septal defect (ASD). Patients are diagnosed early in life and submitted to reparative surgery. Without it, the prognosis is poor.

Immediate Postpartum Insertion of Copper Intrauterine Device in a Brazilian University Hospital: Expulsion and Continuation Rates.

Objective:  To evaluate the expulsion and continuation rates of the copper intrauterine device (IUD) inserted in the immediate postpartum period in a Brazilian public university hospital.

Materials And Methods:  In the present cohort study, we included women who received immediate postpartum IUD at vaginal delivery or cesarean s March 2018 to December 2019. Clinical data and the findings of transvaginal ultrasound (US) scans performed 6-weeks postpartum were collected.

Modulatory effect of two regimens of magnesium sulfate on the systemic inflammatory response in pregnant women with imminent eclampsia.

Objective: This study compared the modulatory effect of two intravenous magnesium sulfate (MgSO) regimens on the systemic inflammatory response in pregnant women diagnosed with imminent eclampsia.

Study Design: In a single-blind cross-sectional study, 33 women were allocated according to the Zuspan (n = 16) and Sibai (n = 17) MgSO regimens, and treated for 24 h. Blood samples were collected pre-administration of the loading dose, at 24 h of the maintenance dose of MgSO, and at 48 h, when patients were without treatment.

Increased Risk for Maternal Anxiety during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Brazil among Pregnant Women without Comorbidities.

Objective:  To study maternal anxiety in pregnant women without comorbidities in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak in Brazil and to study maternal knowledge and concerns about the pandemic.

Methods:  This is a secondary analysis from a national multicenter cross-sectional study performed in 10 cities, from June to August, 2020, in Brazil. Interviewed postpartum women, without medical or obstetrical comorbidities, were included in the present subanalysis.

Association between Adverse Maternal Clinical Outcomes and Imbalance of Cytokines and Angiogenic Factors in Preterm Preeclampsia.

Objective:  Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy-specific syndrome characterized by abnormal levels of cytokines and angiogenic factors, playing a role in the disease development. The present study evaluated whether immunological markers are associated with the gestational age and with the disease severity in preeclamptic women.

Methods:  Ninety-five women who developed PE were stratified for gestational age as preterm PE (< 37 weeks) and term PE (≥ 37 weeks of gestation) and compared for disease severity as well as plasma concentration of angiogenic factors and cytokines.

Progesterone and vitamin D downregulate the activation of the NLRP1/NLRP3 inflammasomes and TLR4-MyD88-NF-κB pathway in monocytes from pregnant women with preeclampsia.

This study evaluated the in vitro modulatory effect of progesterone (PG) and vitamin D (VD) on NLRP1/NLRP3 inflammasomes and TLR4/NF-κB pathway in monocytes from pregnant women with preeclampsia (PE). Monocytes from 20 preeclamptic and 20 normotensive (NT) pregnant women, and THP-1 cells were cultured with/without hyaluronan (HA), PG, or VD to determine gene and protein expression of TLR4 receptor, phosphorylated NF-κB, IκBα, TLR4, MYD88, NF-κB, NLRP1, NLRP3, caspase-1, IL-1β, IL-18, TNF-α, and IL-10. Higher endogenous activation of inflammatory genes and higher protein expression of TLR4 and NF-κB was detected in monocytes of PE group and decreased after PG or VD treatment.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Maternal Anxiety in Brazil.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have an effect on maternal anxiety and influence postpartum experience.

Objective: To study the prevalence of maternal anxiety in late pregnancy in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak in Brazil and to analyze its association with maternal knowledge and concerns about the pandemic.

Methods: This was a national multicenter cross-sectional study performed in 10 different public university hospitals, between 1 June and 31 August 2020, in Brazil.

Increased TLR4 pathway activation and cytokine imbalance led to lipopolysaccharide tolerance in monocytes from preeclamptic women.

Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy syndrome characterized by a systemic inflammatory response, and endogenous activation of monocytes. This study aimed to determine whether the activation of monocytes from preeclamptic women might interfere with the response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-in vitro stimulation. Fifty-two preeclamptic women and 32 normotensive (NT) pregnant women were included.

Downregulation of CD163 in monocytes and its soluble form in the plasma is associated with a pro-inflammatory profile in pregnant women with preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy-specific syndrome characterized by a systemic inflammatory response that polarizes peripheral blood monocytes to the M1 phenotype. The classically activated M1 monocytes comprise immune effector cells with an acute inflammatory phenotype. CD163 is a scavenger receptor expressed by monocytes/macrophages that may be shed from their cell membrane after proteolytic cleavage, producing the soluble CD163 molecule (sCD163).

Pre-eclampsia/Eclampsia.

Pre-eclampsia is a multifactorial and multisystemic disease specific to gestation. It is classically diagnosed by the presence of hypertension associated with proteinuria manifested in a previously normotensive pregnant woman after the 20 week of gestation. Pre-eclampsia is also considered in the absence of proteinuria if there is target organ damage.

Increased expression of NLRP3 inflammasome in placentas from pregnant women with severe preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy disorder characterized by imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines associated with high plasma levels of uric acid and Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β). The inflammasome is a protein complex that mediates innate immune responses via caspase-1 activation promoting secretion of IL-1β and IL-18 in their active forms, and also release of the high-mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1). As the placenta seems to play an important role in the pathogenesis of PE, the present study investigated the expression of genes and proteins related to the inflammasome in placentas from pregnant women with severe preeclampsia.

Association between cytokine profile and transcription factors produced by T-cell subsets in early- and late-onset pre-eclampsia.

Pre-eclampsia (PE) is an obstetric pathology characterized by abnormal activation of the innate and adaptive immune systems dependent on the imbalance of T helper subsets. The present study aimed to evaluate the gene and protein expression of T helper type 1 (Th1)/Th2/Th17/regulatory T (Treg) cell transcription factors in peripheral blood lymphocytes from pregnant women with PE employing quantitative RT-PCR and flow cytometry techniques, as well as the cytokine profile produced by these CD4 T-cell subsets in the plasma of pregnant women with PE, classified as early-onset PE (n = 20), late-onset PE (n = 20) and normotensive pregnant women (n = 20). Results showed a higher percentage of CD4 T cells expressing the RORc transcription factor (Th17) and a lower percentage of cells expressing FoxP3 (Treg) in women with early-onset PE compared with late-onset PE and normotensive groups.

Elevated circulatingadenosine deaminase activity in women with preeclampsia: association with pro-inflammatory cytokine production and uric acid levels.

Objective: Preeclampsia is a specific disorder of human pregnancy that is associated with hyperuricemia and higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Adenosine deaminase (ADA) is an enzyme present in all human tissues, and is considered an indicator of cellular inflammation. In the present study we assess whether adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity is altered in women with preeclampsia (PE) and contributes to elevated levels of uric acid and pro-inflammatory cytokine production.

Association between Placental Lesions, Cytokines and Angiogenic Factors in Pregnant Women with Preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia (PE) is considered the leading cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. The placenta seems to play an essential role in this disease, probably due to factors involved in its formation and development. The present study aimed to investigate the association between placental lesions, cytokines and angiogenic factors in pregnant women with preeclampsia (PE).

Endogenous and Uric Acid-Induced Activation of NLRP3 Inflammasome in Pregnant Women with Preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia (PE) is a specific syndrome of pregnancy, characterized by hypertension and proteinuria. This pathology is associated with hyperuricemia and elevated serum levels of inflammatory cytokines. Uric acid crystals may activate an intracellular complex called inflammasome, which is important for processing and release of inflammatory cytokines.

Assessment of structural cardiac abnormalities and diastolic function in women with gestational diabetes mellitus.

Background: The main manifestation of hyperglycaemia during pregnancy is gestational diabetes mellitus. It can herald diabetes mellitus type 2 and its deleterious long-term effects, such as hypertension and cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to assess diastolic function in women with gestational diabetes mellitus, one of the first signs of future cardiovascular disease.

High levels of heat shock protein 70 are associated with pro-inflammatory cytokines and may differentiate early- from late-onset preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia (PE), a specific syndrome of pregnancy, can be classified into early and late onset, depending on whether clinical manifestations occur before or after 34 weeks' gestation. We determined whether plasma concentrations of Hsp60 and Hsp70 were related to circulating cytokine levels, as well as kidney and liver functions, in early- and late-onset PE. Two hundred and thirty-seven preeclamptic women (95 with early- and 142 with late-onset PE) were evaluated.