The bile acid patterns in the maternal and umbilical vein and artery serum samples were analysed by a two-step chromatographic method involving group separation by piperidinohydroxypropyl-Sephadex LH-20 and high-pressure liquid chromatography using immobilized 3 alpha-hydroxy steroid dehydrogenase. Glycochenodeoxycholate predominates in the maternal blood and taurochenodeoxycholate in the umbil...

AIM To examine the hypothesis that the maternal insulin-like growth factor system may constrain fetal growth. METHODS A prospective observational study of maternal serum insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) and fetal growth was undertaken in neonates with birthweights below the 5th centile. They had been classified either as having fetal growth restriction (FGR) due to place...

Maximum flow velocity waveforms were studied at the cardiac level (ascending aorta, pulmonary artery, and ductus arteriosus) and at the peripheral level (fetal internal carotid artery, descending aorta, umbilical artery, and maternal uteroplacental artery) in 25 patients with intrauterine growth retardation and 25 normal control subjects matched for gestational age and maternal parity. Gestatio...

It is commonly held that the caudal mesenteric artery (CaMA, or inferior mesenteric artery in humans) arises in the same manner as the celiac and cranial mesenteric artery (CrMA, or superior mesenteric artery in humans), i.e., from the remodeling of the vitelline system of arteries that surrounds and supports the yolk sac. Conflicting evidence about the precise manner in which the CaMA arises w...

BACKGROUND The non-thrombotic effects of thrombin in cardiovascular tissues, as mediated via the protease activated receptors (PARs), and particularly PAR-1, have been the focus of much recent research. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effects of thrombin, a specific PAR-1 activating peptide (PAR1-AP), and a PAR-1 antagonist on human umbilical artery tone in vitro. METHODS Human um...

Doppler flow velocity waveform recording in the fetal ductus venosus and umbilical artery as well as maternal blood sampling for serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP) was performed before and after transabdominal chorion Mtlus sampling (TACVS) in 36 women of advanced maternal age (3 36 years). Gestational age ranged between 11 and 13 weeks. No chromosomal anomaly was detected. No statistically sigrul...