AIM To determine parental, especially paternal factors associated with the weight of the placenta and offspring. METHODS This population-based birth-cohort study includes 2947 singleton children born from April 2006 to 2007 and living in Drenthe, The Netherlands. Placental weight and birth weight were measured and questionnaires were filled out for this cohort. Associations between parental f...

BACKGROUND Effective fetal growth requires adequate maternal nutrition coupled to active transport of nutrients across the placenta, which, in turn requires ATP. Epidemiological and experimental evidence has shown that impaired maternal nutrition in utero results in an adverse postnatal phenotype for the offspring. Placental mitochondrial function might link maternal food intake to fetal growth...

BACKGROUND Placentas are generally round/oval in shape, but "irregular" shapes are common. In the Collaborative Perinatal Project data, irregular shapes were associated with lower birth weight for placental weight, suggesting variably shaped placentas have altered function. METHODS (I) Using a 3D one-parameter model of placental vascular growth based on Diffusion Limited Aggregation (an accep...

The objective of this study was to evaluate correlated responses in conceptus development and traits physiologically relevant for placental function in swine from a selection experiment that resulted in differences in placental weight (PW) and efficiency (PE = birthweight/placental weight). Generation 3, second parity females from 2 lines with a history of selection on an index predicting eithe...

INTRODUCTION Iodine is considered to be an essential micronutrient in pregnant women. Iodine placental transport to the embryo-fetus is essential for hormone synthesis and is crucial for nervous system development. However, the relationship between iodine intake and placental weight and its potential implications for the newborn have not been studied. MATERIAL AND METHODS Iodine intake was an...

OBJECTIVE The aim was to study the correlation of placental thickness, measured at the level of the umbilical cord insertion, with the ultrasonographic gestational age in normal and IUGR pregnancies in the late second and third trimester. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 498 patients were observed for correlation of the placental thickness with ultrasonographic gestational age and their outco...

Dehydrogenase (cortisol to cortisone) and oxoreductase (cortisone to cortisol) activities of porcine placental 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11beta-HSD) were measured in tissue fragment cultures on day 75 of gestation. Dehydrogenase activity was over fivefold greater than oxoreductase activity (p < .001). There were positive linear associations (p < .01) between net dehydrogenase activit...

BACKGROUND Adult cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength are related to all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Both are possibly related to birth weight, but it is unclear what the importance is of genetic, maternal and placental factors in these associations. DESIGN Peak oxygen uptake and measures of strength, flexibility and balance were obtained yearly during adolescence (10-18 year...

The placenta is the special pregnancy organ that links a mother to the child for the transport of fetal nutrition through umbilical cord. Preeclampsia is a major disorder of pregnancy which mainly originates in the placenta and is associated with retarded fetal and placental growth. The aim of this study was to compare the morphometric measures of placenta in pregnancies complicated by Preeclam...

In Plasmodium falciparum malaria, activation of monocytes and macrophages (monocytes/macrophages) can result in the production of various inflammatory mediators that contribute to immunopathology. Soluble CD163 (sCD163) is a specific marker of monocyte/macrophage activation typically found at increased levels during various inflammatory conditions and can be associated with poor clinical outcom...