The data presented here on the oxygen tension in the maternal and fetal bloods entering and leaving the placenta of the goat were obtained as a part of a wider investigation of the oxygen supply to the fetal kid. As the first step in the program we estimated the rate at which blood reaches the uterus of the goat at selected stages in gestation and the arterio-venous oxygen difference across tha...

Pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM) is expressed in a range of clinical complications that include increased disease severity in pregnant women, decreased fetal viability, intra-uterine growth retardation, low birth weight and infant mortality. The physiopathology of malaria in pregnancy is difficult to scrutinize and attempts were made in the past to use animal models for pregnancy malaria stud...

The human placenta is a maternal-fetal organ essential for normal fetal development and maternal health. During pregnancy, the placenta undergoes many structural and functional changes in response to fetal needs and environmental exposures. Previous studies have demonstrated widespread epigenetic and gene expression changes from early to late pregnancy. However, on the global level, how DNA met...

The placenta is a key organ in fetal growth and development because it controls maternal-to-fetal exchanges of nutrients and hormones. It also interferes with drug delivery to the fetus by expressing active membrane transporters and xenobiotic metabolism enzymes. Developing strategies to understand the role of the placenta in drug delivery is a challenge in toxicology. Despite common physiologi...

Most children with in utero alcohol exposure do not exhibit all features of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), and a challenge for clinicians is to make an early diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) to avoid lost opportunities for care. In brain, correct neurodevelopment requires proper angiogenesis. Since alcohol alters brain angiogenesis and the placenta is a major source of angiog...

The placenta is a key organ in fetal growth and development because it controls maternal-to-fetal exchanges of nutrients and hormones. It also interferes with drug delivery to the fetus by expressing active membrane transporters and xenobiotic metabolism enzymes. Developing strategies to understand the role of the placenta in drug delivery is a challenge in toxicology. Despite common physiologi...

Developmental toxicity studies were conducted in rats and rabbits with a human G-CSF derivative (NTG). As reported for G-CSF, increases in abortions and fetal mortality were observed in rabbits, but not in rats given NTG. Histopathological examination of the rabbit placenta revealed accumulation of neutrophils in vessels and necrosis of the tissues surrounding these vessels. To assess the mecha...

We reported a very rare case with placentomegaly and markedly-dilated chorionic vessels. A 23-year-old Japanese pregnant woman was referred to our hospital at 32 weeks of gestation because of suspected dilatation of the umbilical vein. Ultrasound revealed fetal growth restriction with no fetal anomalies. The placenta was thick. The umbilical cord had two arteries and one vein, and marginal inse...

Mechanisms of resource allocation are essential for maternal and fetal survival, particularly when the availability of nutrients is limited. We investigated the responses of feto-placental development to maternal chronic protein malnutrition to test the hypothesis that maternal low protein diet produces differential growth restriction of placental and fetal tissues, and adaptive changes in the ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of classical and non-classical major histocompatibility complex (MHC) on the reproduction in the dairy cow. Nine pairs of MHC-I genes were chosen according to their homology and possible function, and their transcription levels in maternal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from all three trimesters and transcription levels in fetal tissu...