BACKGROUND Most recently, a novel myokine, named irisin, was identified in human that expressed by skeletal muscle after exercise. Irisin increases energy expenditure by turning white adipose tissue into brown adipose tissue. Thus improves carbohydrate homeostasis in humans. Irisin is considered as a potential biomarker for obesity and metabolic syndrome. In recent years, numerous studies have ...

The association between low birth weight and schizophrenia has been suggested by many studies. Small for gestational age (SGA) is a measure used as a proxy for intrauterine growth restriction. We aim to examine if children who are born SGA are at increased risk of developing schizophrenia and whether an association may be explained by factors shared among siblings. We linked 3 population-based ...

BACKGROUND Fetal exposure to maternal glucocorticoids may determine fetal growth and the programing of later disorders. Availability of the glucocorticoids in the placenta is regulated by the 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11beta-HSDs) enzymes. To date, there are discrepancies with regard to cortisol (F) cord blood levels in fetuses with intrauterine growth retardation in different specie...

PURPOSE This study aimed to compare the regulatory T cells in cord blood of appropriate for gestational age (AGA) neonates with those of small for gestational age (SGA) neonates. MATERIALS AND METHODS Umbilical cord blood was collected upon labor in 108 healthy full-term (between 37 and 41 gestational weeks) neonates, who were born between November 2010 and April 2012. Among them, 77 samples ...

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of being born preterm or small for gestational age (SGA) on several adult outcomes. STUDY DESIGN We analyzed data for 4518 adult participants in 5 birth cohorts from Brazil, Guatemala, India, the Philippines, and South Africa. RESULTS In the study population, 12.8% of males and 11.9% of females were born preterm, and 26.8% of males and 22.4% of females were bo...

Prenatal growth restraint, if followed by postnatal overweight, confers risk for adult disease including diabetes. The mechanisms whereby neonatal nutrition may modulate such risk are poorly understood. We studied the effects of nutrition (breast-feeding [BRF] vs. formula-feeding [FOF]) on weight partitioning and endocrine state (as judged by high-molecular-weight [HMW] adiponectin and IGF-I) o...

OBJECTIVE Soluble preadipocyte factor 1 (Pref-1) inhibits adipocyte differentiation. We tested whether circulating levels of soluble Pref-1 are higher in smaller fetuses. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We performed longitudinal assessments of circulating Pref-1 in infants born appropriate for gestational age (AGA) or small for gestational age (SGA) and also in late-gestational women and in newbo...

Doppler ultrasound was used to measure left renal artery blood flow velocity and pulsatility index on the first, third, and seventh day of postnatal life in 18 very low birthweight small for gestational age (SGA) infants. The values were compared with those from 18 weight matched and 18 gestation matched controls. SGA infants had significantly lower blood flow velocity than their gestation matc...

BACKGROUND Recent surveillance data suggest that mean birth weight has begun to decline in several developed countries. The aim of this study is to examine the changes in birth weight among singleton live births from 2002 to 2012 in Guangzhou, one of the most rapidly developed cities in China. METHODS We used data from the Guangzhou Perinatal Health Care and Delivery Surveillance System for 3...