Zoe Iliodromiti1, Charalampos Grigoriadis2, Nikolaos Vrachnis2, Charalampos Siristatidis3, Michail Varras4 and Georgios Creatsas2 1Neonatal Unit, 2nd Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Athens Medical School, Aretaieio Hospital, Athens, 22nd Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Athens Medical School, Aretaieio Hospital, Athens, 33nd Department of Obstetrics ...

BACKGROUND The goal of this study was to determine if exposure to meconium would alter the phenotype of amniotic fluid mesenchymal stem cells (AF-MSCs) and the ability of these cells to be differentiated into distal airway type cells. METHODS Meconium was collected, lyophilized and resuspended in PBS at 3 different concentrations (high, medium, and low). AF-MSCs were cultured in the presence ...

Meconium ileus is the earliest manifestation of cystic fibrosis, and several investigations have been undertaken to determine its cause. In 1952, Buchanan and Rapoport showed that the ash content of abnormal meconium was twice as high as that ofnormal newborns, and that whereas normal meconium consisted of only 7% protein, this rose to 85% in meconium ileus. We here show that the proteins conce...

Interaction with intestinal microbes in infancy has a profound impact on health and disease in later life through programming of immune and metabolic pathways. We collected maternal faeces, placenta, amniotic fluid, colostrum, meconium and infant faeces samples from 15 mother-infant pairs in an effort to rigorously investigate prenatal and neonatal microbial transfer and gut colonisation. To en...

Prenatal pesticide exposures may adversely affect children's health. However, exposure and health research is hampered by the lack of reliable fetal exposure data. No studies have been published that report measurements of commonly used nonpersistent pesticides in human amniotic fluid, although recent studies of pesticides in urine from pregnant women and in meconium indicate that fetuses are e...

yes. The presence of arborized crystals (ferning) in amniotic fluid is both sensitive (74%-100%) and specific (77%-100%) for diagnosing rupture of membranes in laboring women who report loss of fluid (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A, multiple prospective cohort studies). However, it is much less sensitive and specific for women with fluid loss who aren’t in labor (SOR: B, 1 prospective coho...