Correlation of fetal heart rate dynamics to inflammatory markers and brain-derived neurotrophic factor during pregnancy.

Objectives: This study aims to show the relation between biomarkers in maternal and cord-blood samples and fetal heart rate variability (fHRV) metrics through a non-invasive fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) technique.

Methods: Twenty-three women were enrolled for collection of maternal serum and fMCG tracings immediately prior to their scheduled cesarean delivery. The umbilical cord blood was collected for measurement of biomarker levels.

Reproducibility of absolute quantification of adenosine triphosphate and inorganic phosphate in the liver with localized P-magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 3-T using different coils.

Concentrations of the key metabolites of hepatic energy metabolism, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and inorganic phosphate (P), can be altered in metabolic disorders such as diabetes mellitus. Phosphorus (P)-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is used to noninvasively measure hepatic metabolites, but measuring their absolute molar concentrations remains challenging. This study employed a P-MRS method based on the phantom replacement technique for quantifying hepatic P-metabolites on a 3-T clinical scanner.

Sleep shapes the associative structure underlying pattern completion in multielement event memory.

Sleep supports the consolidation of episodic memory. It is, however, a matter of ongoing debate how this effect is established, because, so far, it has been demonstrated almost exclusively for simple associations, which lack the complex associative structure of real-life events, typically comprising multiple elements with different association strengths. Because of this associative structure interlinking the individual elements, a partial cue (e.

Comparison of the accuracy of commercial two-point and multi-echo Dixon MRI for quantification of fat in liver, paravertebral muscles, and vertebral bone marrow.

Purpose: Excess fat accumulation contributes significantly to metabolic dysfunction and diseases. This study aims to systematically compare the accuracy of commercially available Dixon techniques for quantification of fat fraction in liver, skeletal musculature, and vertebral bone marrow (BM) of healthy individuals, investigating biases and sex-specific influences.

Method: 100 healthy White individuals (50 women) underwent abdominal MRI using two-point and multi-echo Dixon sequences.

Frequency shifts of free water signals from compact bone: Simulations and measurements using a UTE-FID sequence.

Purpose: Free water in cortical bone is either contained in nearly cylindrical structures (mainly Haversian canals oriented parallel to the bone axis) or in more spherically shaped pores (lacunae). Those cavities have been reported to crucially influence bone quality and mechanical stability. Susceptibility differences between bone and water can lead to water frequency shifts dependent on the geometric characteristics.

State-of-the-Art Metabolomics and Lipidomics in Life Sciences: Methods and Applications.

This Special Issue was initiated to celebrate and congratulate Prof [...

Obstetric Medicine: the protocol for a prospective three-dimensional cohort study to assess maternity care for women with pre-existing conditions (ForMaT).

Background: Pregnancies in women with pre-existing medical conditions are on the rise. These pregnancies are characterized by an increased rate of maternal and perinatal complications, which can result in higher health care expenditures and altered pregnancy experiences. The purpose of this study is to integrally analyze maternity care for women with pre-existing conditions in the framework of a risk-adapted, interdisciplinary care by recording three substantial parts of maternity care: (1) maternal and perinatal outcome; (2) hospital costs and reimbursements covering the period from preconception counseling or initial antenatal visit to discharge after birth; and (3) women's experience of reproductive choice and becoming a mother in the presence of a pre-existing condition.

Endothelin receptor B-deficient mice are protected from high-fat diet-induced metabolic syndrome.

Objective: Endothelin receptor B (ETB) together with ETA mediates cellular effects of endothelin 1 (ET-1), an autocrine and endocrine peptide produced by the endothelium and other cells. It regulates vascular tone and controls kidney function. Metabolic syndrome is due to high caloric intake and is characterized by insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and white adipose tissue (WAT) accumulation.

Outcomes With Finerenone in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease and Type 2 Diabetes by Baseline Insulin Resistance.

Objective: To explore whether insulin resistance, assessed by estimated glucose disposal rate (eGDR), is associated with cardiorenal risk and whether it modifies finerenone efficacy.

Research Design And Methods: In FIDELITY (N = 13,026), patients with type 2 diabetes, either 1) urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) of ≥30 to <300 mg/g and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of ≥25 to ≤90 mL/min/1.73 m2 or 2) UACR of ≥300 to ≤5,000 mg/g and eGFR of ≥25 mL/min/1.

Mixed nut consumption improves brain insulin sensitivity: a randomized, single-blinded, controlled, crossover trial in older adults with overweight or obesity.

Background: Improving brain insulin sensitivity, which can be assessed by measuring regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) responses to intranasal insulin, may prevent age-related metabolic and cognitive diseases.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate longer-term effects of mixed nuts on brain insulin sensitivity in older individuals with overweight/obesity.

Methods: In a randomized, single-blinded, controlled, crossover trial, 28 healthy adults (mean ± standard deviation: 65 ± 3 years; body mass index: 27.

Loss of mitochondrial adaptation associates with deterioration of mitochondrial turnover and structure in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

Background: Obesity and type 2 diabetes frequently have metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) including steatohepatitis (MASH). In obesity, the liver may adapt its oxidative capacity, but the role of mitochondrial turnover in MASLD remains uncertain.

Methods: This cross-sectional study compared individuals with class III obesity (n = 8/group) without (control, OBE CON; NAFLD activity score: 0.

Advances and challenges in measuring hepatic glucose uptake with FDG PET: implications for diabetes research.

The liver plays a crucial role in the control of glucose homeostasis and is therefore of great interest in the investigation of the development of type 2 diabetes. Hepatic glucose uptake (HGU) can be measured through positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with the tracer [18F]-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG). HGU is dependent on many variables (e.

Skeletal Muscle Gene Expression Signatures of Obese High and Low Responders to Endurance Exercise Training.

Context: Exercise training is known to improve glucose tolerance and reverse insulin resistance in people with obesity. However, some individuals fail to improve or even decline in their clinical traits following exercise intervention.

Objective: This study focused on gene expression and DNA methylation signatures in skeletal muscle of low (LRE) and high responders (RES) to 8 weeks of supervised endurance training.

Development and Validation of a New Score to Assess the Risk of Posttransplantation Diabetes Mellitus in Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Background: Posttransplantation diabetes mellitus (PTDM) is a serious complication of solid organ transplantation. It is associated with major adverse cardiovascular events, which are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in transplant patients. This study aimed to develop and validate a score to predict the risk of PTDM in kidney transplant recipients.

Effectiveness of an individually tailored complex intervention to improve activities and participation in nursing home residents with joint contractures (JointConEval): a multicentre pragmatic cluster-randomised controlled trial.

Objective: This study aims to examine the effects of the individually tailored complex intervention Participation Enabling Care in Nursing (PECAN) on activities and participation of residents with joint contractures.

Design: Multicentre pragmatic cluster-randomised controlled trial.

Setting: 35 nursing homes in Germany (August 2018-February 2020).

A New Biomarker Profiling Strategy for Gut Microbiome Research: Valid Association of Metabolites to Metabolism of Microbiota Detected by Non-Targeted Metabolomics in Human Urine.

The gut microbiome is of tremendous relevance to human health and disease, so it is a hot topic of omics-driven biomedical research. However, a valid identification of gut microbiota-associated molecules in human blood or urine is difficult to achieve. We hypothesize that bowel evacuation is an easy-to-use approach to reveal such metabolites.

Exploring the Influence of Fetal Sex on Heart Rate Dynamics Using Fetal Magnetocardiographic Recordings.

Fetal sex has been associated with different development trajectories that cause structural and functional differences between the sexes throughout gestation. Fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) recordings from 123 participants (64 females and 59 males; one recording/participant) from a database consisting of low-risk pregnant women were analyzed to explore and compare fetal development trajectories of both sexes. The gestational age of the recordings ranged from 28 to 38 weeks.

Efficacy of finerenone in patients with type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease and altered markers of liver steatosis and fibrosis: A FIDELITY subgroup analysis.

Aim: Investigating the effect of finerenone on liver function, cardiovascular and kidney composite outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes, stratified by their risk of liver steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis.

Materials And Methods: Post hoc analysis stratified patients (N = 13 026) by liver fibrosis and enzymes: high risk of steatosis (hepatic steatosis index >36); elevated transaminases [alanine transaminase (ALT) >33 (males) and >25 IU/L (females)]; and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index scores >3.25, >2.