OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine whether variants of the IGF1 gene are associated with growth patterns from foetal life until infancy. STUDY DESIGN AND MEASUREMENTS: This study was embedded in the Generation R Study, a population-based prospective cohort study of foetal life. Foetal growth (head circumference, ...

Assessment of fetal growth and wellbeing is one of the major purposes of antenatal care. Some fetuses have smaller than expected growth in utero and while some of these fetuses are constitutionally small, others have failed to meet their growth potential, that is they are growth restricted. While severe growth ...

Fetal growth restriction remains a major cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality in modern obstetric practice. Placental insufficiency is the most common association, but is often a diagnosis of exclusion. Currently, no treatment can ameliorate or reverse established growth restriction: maximising gestational age and judicious timing of steroid administration and ...

Growth manipulation of fish is an important task in aquatic biotechnology. The growth promoting effect of recombinant Pichia pastoris expressing tilapia growth hormone was demonstrated in red tilapia fry (Oreochromis sp.), which were immersed into water containing intact cells of the recombinant yeast. The weight increase of the treated group ...

To analyze density-mediated indirect effects through trophic cascades caused by Japanese dace Tribolodon hakonensis on the algal biomass and growth of ayu Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis, (freshwater fish belonging to Salmoniformes), I introduced zero, five, ten, and 20 dace with and without ayu into experimental pools. Ayu fed predominantly on benthic ...

Placentae with mesenchymal dysplasia (PMD) are typically larger than average and show cystic areas on ultrasonography. Fetal outcomes are variable and are often associated with growth restriction. However, enigmatically, some associated fetuses show signs of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS). PMD has recently been shown to result from androgenetic (complete paternal uniparental ...

Implantation represents the limiting step in governing reproductive outcomes. The process is driven by both embryo and endometrium alike. Minute perturbations in this orchestration lay foundation for pregnancy-associated complications that may manifest throughout the gestational course. Furthermore, placental function dictates many aspects of fetal development inclusive of preeclampsia and intrauterine ...

An adverse fetal environment may lead to smaller kidneys and subsequent hypertension with renal disease in adult life. The aim of our study was to examine whether maternal characteristics, fetal growth, fetal blood flow redistribution, or inadequate placental perfusion in different periods of fetal life affect kidney volume in late ...

OBJECTIVE: Complex evaluation of the functional system "mother-placenta-fetus" in intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) for the prognosis of risk of perinatal complications and optimization of choice of method of delivery. METHODS: We created an objective scale for the evaluation of pregnancies complicated by IUGR using 19 fetometric, dopplerometric and pulsometric parameters. ...

Fetal growth restriction can result from a variety of intrinsic or extrinsic insults, resulting from maternal, fetal, and placental factors. Determining the underlying cause of poor fetal growth can be difficult but is essential for assessing potential risks for future pregnancies. Importantly, recurrence risks greatly depend on these underlying conditions. ...

Fetal growth is reduced at high altitude, but the decrease is less among long-resident populations. We hypothesized that greater maternal uteroplacental O(2) delivery would explain increased fetal growth in Andean natives versus European migrants to high altitude. O(2) delivery was measured with ultrasound, Doppler and haematological techniques. Participants (n=180) were ...

CONTEXT: Russell-Silver syndrome (RSS), characterized by intrauterine and postnatal growth retardation, dysmorphic features, and frequent body asymmetry, spares cranial growth. Maternal uniparental disomy for chromosome 7 (mUPD7) is found in 5-10% of cases. We identified loss of methylation (LOM) of 11p15 Imprinting Center Region 1 (ICR1) domain (including IGF-II) as ...

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate possible alterations in circulating levels of the adipocytokine visfatin in intrauterine growth-restricted and normal pregnancies, given that these groups differ considerably in fetal nutrition, body fat mass, and metabolic/endocrine mechanisms. METHODS: Serum visfatin levels were prospectively measured by enzyme immunoassay in ...

OBJECTIVE: Nucleated red blood cells (NRBCs) in fetal circulation have been proposed as a marker of chronic hypoxia in fetuses with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). We sought to determine the effects of chronic hypoxia, chronic nitric oxide inhibition with N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), or both on NRBC counts, erythropoietin levels, ...

Placental insufficiency, resulting in restriction of fetal substrate supply, is a major cause of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and increased neonatal morbidity. Fetal adaptations to placental restriction maintain the growth of key organs, including the heart, but the impact of these adaptations on individual cardiomyocytes is unknown. Placental and hence ...

CONTEXT: A common polymorphism in the GH receptor (GHR) gene has been linked to increased growth response in GH-treated patients. No former study has focused on the association to prenatal growth. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the association between the d3-GHR isoforms and spontaneous pre- and ...

Customized percentiles improve the differentiation between constitutional and pathological smallness of the fetus and the neonate. We studied data from 12420 pregnancies in Sydney to develop Australian coefficients for customized fetal growth and birthweight centiles. Significant coefficients were derived for maternal height, weight, parity and ethnic origin as well as ...

Birthweight predicts health later in life and is influenced by inherited factors. We investigated the association of the c.61G > A, and c.2566G > A polymorphisms in the epidermal growth factor (EGF) gene [GenBank NM_001963] with birthweight in three groups of healthy pregnant women, and in women with pregnancies affected ...

Poor embryo implantation can lead to poor feto-maternal exchanges and intrauterine growth restriction. Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 are highly involved in early embryo implantation and three functional polymorphisms have been described for these genes: MMP2 C-1306T, MMP9 C-1562T and MMP9 (CA)n repeat. We evaluated therefore the association between fetal ...

OBJECTIVE: For monitoring pregnancies it is useful to reduce unnecessary examinations due to wrongfully assumed growth retardation in cases with a small fetal growth potential. It also makes sense to improve the detection of objectively retardated children in order to a disproportionately high growth potential. It was the aim of ...

To date, there is no known prenatal treatment for intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). IGF-I is an important regulator of fetal growth and circulating IGF-I concentrations are reduced in IUGR fetuses. We investigated whether any of three different methods of fetal IGF-I administration would reverse IUGR in sheep. Animals were randomized ...

BACKGROUND: PAPP-A is a marker used as part of the most effective method of screening for chromosomal anomalies in the first trimester. ADAM12 is a recently discovered pregnancy associated member of the ADAM (a multidomain glycoprotein metalloprotease) family. Recently, ADAM12 has been shown as a potential marker for early screening ...

AIM: Normal variation in size at birth is a result of the interaction between fetal genetic factors and the maternal uterine environment. It is, however, unclear how genetic factors contribute to fetal growth. The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system regulates uterine, placental and fetal development, thereby partially controlling the rate ...

AIMS: The fate of Listeria monocytogenes Scott A, was studied in broth, at different a(w)s (by adding NaCl or KCl from 0.0 to 1.4 mol l(-1)), pHs (from 4.0 to 7.3 by adding lactic acid), and nisin concentrations (from 0 to 100 IU ml(-1)). METHODS AND RESULTS: Increasing salt and ...

BACKGROUND: Sparganosis is the infection of a paratenic host with the plerocercoid metacestode of Spirometra spp. A 12-year-old captive, pregnant, wild-caught baboon from Tanzania had multiple subcutaneous nodules. METHODS: Examination of the biopsied nodules revealed the presence of viable metacestodes. The histological morphology of the metacestodes was consistent with the ...

Angiogenic factors like placental growth factor and its antiangiogenic antagonist soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt1) are closely related to the pathogenesis of preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction. Because it is known that altered maternal sFlt1 and placental growth factor levels are detectable weeks before the onset of these pregnancy ...

Glucose transporter isoform-3 (GLUT3) is the trophoblastic facilitative glucose transporter. To investigate the role of this isoform in embryonic development, we created a novel GLUT3-null mouse and observed arrested early embryonic development and loss at neurulation stage when both alleles were mutated. This loss occurred despite the presence of other ...

[Truncated abstract] Glucocorticoids are critical for the maturation of the fetus late in pregnancy. Indeed, clinical administration of glucocorticoids is used to accelerate fetal lung maturation in mothers at risk of pre-term delivery. Increased glucocorticoid exposure, however, can have detrimental effects on fetal and placental growth and increase the risk ...

Massive subchorionic hematoma is a large maternal blood clot, which separates the chorionic plate from the villous chorion [Kojima K, et al: Fetal Diagn Ther 2001;16:57-60]. It is an uncommon condition associated with poor perinatal prognosis and intrauterine growth retardation [Tan WH, et al: Fetal Diagn Ther 1997;76:381-383, Nishijima K, ...

Monocyte-chemotactic-protein-1 (MCP-1) plays vital roles in immune response, angiogenesis, and pregnancy outcome. We investigated plasma MCP-1 concentrations in 40 mothers and their 20 intrauterine-growth-restricted (IUGR) and 20 appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) fetuses and neonates on postnatal days 1 (N1) and 4 (N4). Maternal and fetal MCP-1 concentrations were decreased (P<001 and P ...

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) implies fetal hypoxia, resulting in blood flow redistribution and sparing of vital organs (brain, heart). Serum cardiac Troponin-I (cTnI), a well-established marker of myocardial ischaemia, was measured in 40 mothers prior to delivery, the doubly clamped umbilical cords (representing fetal state), and their 20 IUGR and ...

BACKGROUND: N-terminal parathyroid hormone-related protein has a vital role in regulating cell growth and differentiation, uteroplacental vasodilatation, uterine muscle relaxation, and placental transport. These functions are compromised in intrauterine growth restriction. We aimed to investigate N-terminal parathyroid hormone-related protein concentrations in maternal, fetal, and neonatal plasma of intrauterine-growth-restricted and appropriate ...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the maternal and umbilical cord sTNF R1 serum levels in pregnancies complicated by severe preeclampsia with normal intrauterine fetal growth and in preeclamptic pregnancies with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study was carried out on 8 patients with ...

While somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) has been successful in several species, many pregnancies are lost and anomalies are found in fetal and perinatal stages. In this study SCNT and artificial inseminations (AI) populations were compared for litter size, average birth weight, piglets alive at birth, stillborn, mummies, dead at ...

The term intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is assigned to newborns with a birth weight and/or birth length below the 10th percentile for their gestational age and whose abdominal circumference is below the 2.5th percentile with pathologic restriction of fetal growth. IUGR is usually due to maternal, fetal, or placental factors. ...

The symmetric small for gestational age (SGA) fetus presents a complex management problem for the obstetrician, but the growth restriction affects morbidity and mortality at all stages of life. The differential diagnosis in symmetric growth aberration includes the constitutionally small fetus, the fetus with pathology, and the cases with incorrect ...

The terms "small for gestational age" and "intrauterine growth restriction" have been used interchangeably to denote an in utero growth-restricted neonate. However, the two terms are not synonymous; not all small babies are growth restricted and not all growth-restricted ones are small. Research evidence, extending back to the middle of ...

We report the shape and size control of polyhedral gold nanocrystals by a modified polyol process. The rapid reduction of gold precursors in refluxing 1,5-pentanediol has successfully provided a series of gold nanocrystals in the shape of octahedra, truncated octahedra, cuboctahedra, cubes, and higher polygons by incremental changes of silver ...

OBJECTIVE: Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) is an important cause of prenatal and neonatal morbidity, and neurologic abnormalities. Although several animal models of IUGR have been developed for scientific investigation, few models approximate the pathophysiology in human fetal growth failure resulting from pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia. We developed an animal model ...

BACKGROUND: Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) is an organochlorine pesticide still used in areas of the world where malaria vector control is needed. Few studies have examined in utero exposures to DDT in relation to fetal and early childhood growth in populations with substantial exposure to DDT. Furthermore, only a portion of these ...

Femur subtrochanteric size and shape can be used to differentiate between adult Native Americans and American Blacks and Whites, but little is known about when shape differences are established during growth and development. Ontological changes in subtrochanteric shape were examined using 74 Native American and 61 American Black/White subadult femora. ...

BACKGROUND: Intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) fetuses are those with estimated weight <10th customized centile, displaying signs of chronic malnutrition and hypoxia leading to brain sparing effect. Neurotrophins, [Nerve Growth Factor (NGF), Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), Neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), Neurotrophin-4 (NT-4)] are important for pre- and post-natal brain development. AIMS: To ...

The location and changes in NAD(P)H have been monitored during oscillatory growth in pollen tubes of lily (Lilium formosanum) using the endogenous fluorescence of the reduced coenzyme (excitation, 360 nm; emission, >400 nm). The strongest signal resides 20 to 40 microm behind the apex where mitochondria (stained with Mitotracker Green) ...

OBJECTIVE: To create a nomogram of the fetal growth of the human prostate corresponding to gestational age, and to investigate the relationship between the expansive growth of the fetal prostate and the maternal testosterone surge during pregnancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In all, 27 fetal prostates at 11-40 weeks of gestation, ...

OBJECTIVE: The ponderal index (PI) is a widely accepted measure of disproportionate growth or asymmetrical growth retardation by pediatricians worldwide. Identification of disproportionately grown small for gestational age (SGA) neonates by using the ponderal index as a measure of the nutritional status at birth, is important because they constitute a ...

Maternal ethanol intake during pregnancy impairs fetal growth, but mechanisms are not clearly defined. Reduced IGF abundance or bioavailability in the fetus and/or mother may contribute to this growth restriction. We hypothesized that an episode of acute ethanol exposure, mimicking binge drinking would restrict fetal growth and perturb the maternal ...

Dominant individuals often grow faster than subordinates because they gain a greater share of important resources. However, dominants should also strategically adjust their growth rates, relative to the size of subordinates, if this improves their reproductive success. Here, we show that individuals in breeding pairs of the coral-dwelling fish Gobiodon ...

PURPOSE: Triphalangeal thumb is characterized as a congenital difference of the thumb with an extra phalanx. Additional thumb length is attributed mostly to the extra phalanx. The influence of the epiphyseal plate positions on growth in congenital hand anomalies is unclear. The purpose of this article was to compare the ...

Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), defined as impaired growth and development of the mammalian embryo/fetus or its organs during pregnancy, is a major concern in domestic animal production. Fetal growth restriction reduces neonatal survival, has a permanent stunting effect on postnatal growth and the efficiency of feed/forage utilization in offspring, negatively ...

The antenatal population at Blackburn, Lancashire, UK is diverse, with 35% non-Caucasian, mainly of Indo-Pakistani origin. The department currently uses standard growth charts, based on the Caucasian population for assessment of fetal growth. This study was designed to ascertain whether the use of customised growth charts (CGCs) in our antenatal ...