Preconception B-vitamin and homocysteine status, conception, and early pregnancy loss.

Maternal vitamin status contributes to clinical spontaneous abortion, but the role of B-vitamin and homocysteine status in subclinical early pregnancy loss is unknown. Three-hundred sixty-four textile workers from Anqing, China, who conceived at least once during prospective observation (1996-1998), provided daily urine specimens for up to 1 year, and urinary human chorionic gonadotropin was assayed to detect conception and early pregnancy loss. Homocysteine, folate, and vitamins B6 and B12 were measured in preconception plasma.

Preconception serum DDT and pregnancy loss: a prospective study using a biomarker of pregnancy.

Previous studies of pregnancy losses and 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT) were limited because they did not include losses prior to clinical detection of pregnancy and because exposures were measured after the pregnancies of interest. The authors examined the association of preconception serum total DDT (sum of DDT isomers and metabolites) concentration and subsequent pregnancy losses in 388 newly married, nonsmoking, female textile workers in China between 1996 and 1998. Upon stopping contraception, subjects provided daily urine specimens and records of vaginal bleeding for up to 1 year or until clinical pregnancy.

Beta2 adrenergic receptor gene Arg16Gly polymorphism is associated with therapeutic efficacy of benazepril on essential hypertension in Chinese.

Background: There is considerable variability in individual response to antihypertensive agents. The reason for this is not known, but may be related to individual genetic variability. This study examined whether the therapeutic efficacy of benazepril on essential hypertension is modified by beta2 adrenergic receptor gene (ADRB2) Arg16Gly (R16G) polymorphism.

Preconception hemoglobin and ferritin concentrations are associated with pregnancy outcome in a prospective cohort of Chinese women.

Prenatal anemia and iron deficiency are associated with adverse birth outcomes, but no previous studies have examined the relation between preconception anemia, iron deficiency, and pregnancy outcome in healthy women. We measured hemoglobin (Hb), ferritin, transferrin receptor (TfR), and vitamins B-6, B-12, and folate concentrations before pregnancy in 405 Chinese women (median time from sample collection to gestation end = 316 d). Both mild (95 View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Paternal smoking and pregnancy loss: a prospective study using a biomarker of pregnancy.

Results of studies on paternal smoking and spontaneous abortions have been inconsistent. The authors examined the effect of paternal smoking on the risk of pregnancy loss in a prospective cohort of 526 newly married, nonsmoking, female textile workers in China between 1996 and 1998. Upon stopping contraception, subjects provided daily urine specimens and records of vaginal bleeding for up to 1 year or until clinical pregnancy.

Hypertensive patients from two rural Chinese counties respond differently to benazepril: the Anhui Hypertension Health Care Study.

Purpose: Essential hypertension, as a complex disorder with unknown etiology cause, is a major public health problem worldwide. Patients need constant drug therapy to maintain their blood pressure in a normal range. However, the current facts suggest that the treatment is not optimized in a large number of patients, and as a result they are at risk for compliance resulting in uncontrolled blood pressure.

Low preconception body mass index is associated with birth outcome in a prospective cohort of Chinese women.

Low maternal prepregnancy BMI is associated with adverse birth outcomes, but the BMI at which risk increases is not well defined. We assessed whether the relationship between prepregnancy BMI and birth outcomes is influenced by the extent to which mothers were underweight in a prospective study in Anhui, China. The women (n = 575) were 20-34 y old, married, nulliparous and nonsmokers.

Conception, early pregnancy loss, and time to clinical pregnancy: a population-based prospective study.

Objective: To examine rates of conception and pregnancy loss and their relations with time to clinical pregnancy and reproductive outcomes.

Design: A prospective observational study.

Setting: Population-based cohort in China.