Adrenaline may decrease uterine blood flow and influence transplacental distribution of bupivacaine. Sixteen pregnant rabbits received an i.v. infusion of 0.125% bupivacaine either plain (n = 8) or with adrenaline 1.25 microgram ml-1. At 15-min intervals following the start of the infusion, rabbit fetuses were removed serially and bupivacaine concentrations measured in maternal arterial plasma,...

Placental morphology and vascularization are important stages in the evolution of pregnancies. Placental morphogenesis and angiogenesis processes are studied by two-dimensional, three-dimensional and Doppler ultrasound. Ultrasound methods provide important data on the physiology and pathophysiology of fetal-placental exchange. The macroscopic and microscopic study of the placenta brings valuabl...

Ghrelin is an orexigenic peptide secreted mainly by the stomach in adult rats. Ghrelin concentrations increase with fasting and decrease after food intake. Ghrelin is also present in the placenta and in the fetal stomach, but the role of fetal ghrelin remains unclear. In this study, we compared changes in plasma ghrelin, insulin, and glucose concentrations and in ghrelin gene expression in stom...

A 34-year-old patient developed an area of thrombus within her placenta. This resulted in severe fetal growth restriction which physicians felt was due to contracting and recovering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during pregnancy. Serial sonograms demonstrated a slowing thrombosis confirmed by pathologic examination placenta after delivery. Since COVID-19 pregnancy are both known hype...

The placenta is a key organ for pregnancy evolution and fetal growth. Placental anatomic abnormalities may affect the placental functions, interfering in turn with maternal and or fetal wellbeing. This chapter describes the placental development, the macroscopic aspect and the histological characteristics through the gestation. The aim of this chapter is to provide updated information to help c...

Background and aim: Horseshoe placenta is a variant of ring-shaped placenta. Ring-shaped placenta is a rare anomaly seen in fewer than 1 in 6000 deliveries, which could be seen as horseshoe shape due to atrophy in a portion of the ring. This report refers to a possible relationship between the horseshoe shape placenta and preterm labor; although it has not been yet validated in the literature. ...

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSC) are promising candidates for use in cell-based therapies. In most cases, therapeutic response appears to be cell-dose dependent. Human term placenta is rich in MSC and is a physically large tissue that is generally discarded following birth. Placenta is an ideal starting material for the large-scale manufacture of multiple cell doses of allogeneic MSC. The p...

OBJECTIVES The placental transfer of nutrients is influenced by maternal metabolic state, placenta function and fetal demands. Human in vivo studies of this interplay are scarce and challenging. We aimed to establish a method to study placental nutrient transfer in humans. Focusing on glucose, we tested a hypothesis that maternal glucose concentrations and uteroplacental arterio-venous differen...

The healthy development of the fetus depends on an optimal balance between fetal genetic drive for growth and the maternal ability to provide nutrients through the placenta. Nothing is known about fetal-placental signaling in response to increased fetal demand in the situation of overgrowth. Here, we examined this question using the H19(Δ13) mouse model, shown previously to result in elevated l...

Angiogenic markers are now being incorporated into clinical practice for the screening, diagnosing, and monitoring of preeclampsia. Pregnancy requires both vasculogenesis and angiogenesis in the fetal compartment and angiogenesis in the maternal compartment. Abnormal angiogenesis in the placenta determines impaired remodeling of the maternal spiral arteries and placental underperfusion that may...