Placental transfer of lactate, glucose and 2-deoxyglucose was examined employing the in situ perfused placenta. Control and streptozotocin induced diabetic Wistar rats were infused with [U-14C]-glucose and [3H]-2-deoxyglucose (2DG). The fetal side of the placenta was perfused with a cell free medium and glucose uptake was calculated in the adjacent fetuses. Despite the 5-fold higher maternal pl...

The fetal allograft poses an immunological challenge: how is it protected while immunity to pathogens, particularly those that replicate in the placenta, is maintained? Several theories have been proposed to explain this fetal protection, including a pregnancy-based bias towards a Th2 rather than Th1 cytokine profile in order to avoid generating cytotoxic T cells that could threaten the fetus. ...

Although uncommon, abnormalities of the placenta are important to recognise owing to the potential for both maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. The placenta is often overlooked in the routine evaluation of a normal gestation, receiving attention only when an abnormality is detected. During the formal scan to confirm a fetal death, the information gathering process to elucidate a possibl...

Human placentation entails the remarkable integration of fetal and maternal cells into a single functional unit. In the basal plate region (the maternal-fetal interface) of the placenta, fetal cytotrophoblasts from the placenta invade the uterus and remodel the resident vasculature and avoid maternal immune rejection. Knowing the molecular bases for these unique cell-cell interactions is import...

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are extensively synthesized by plants, are commonly present in herbs and foodstuffs, and exhibit hepatotoxicity requiring metabolic activation by cytochrome P450 3A to form the electrophilic metabolites-pyrrolic esters. PAs also cause embryo toxicity, but the metabolic profiles of PAs in fetus and placenta have been far from clear. In this study, we determined the ...

The placenta is essential for sustaining the growth of the fetus during gestation, and defects in its function result in fetal growth restriction or, if more severe, fetal death. Several molecular pathways have been identified that are essential for development of the placenta, and mouse mutants offer new insights into the cell biology of placental development and physiology of nutrient transport.

Fetal brain hypoxic injury remains a concern in high-risk delivery. There is significant clinical interest in agents that may diminish neuronal damage during birth asphyxia, such as in allopurinol, an inhibitor of the prooxidant enzyme xanthine oxidase. Here, we established in a rodent model the capacity of allopurinol to be taken up by the mother, cross the placenta, rise to therapeutic levels...

Reactive oxygen species are unavoidable products of metabolism and in excess they can be dangerous for tissues and cells. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), among others, protect tissues and cells against reactive oxygen species. The aim of the study was the description of SOD and GSH-Px from bovine placenta by use of spectrophotometric and electrophoretic analysis ...

Context: Recently, a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) as the cause of COVID-19 has made global health crisis and great challenge. Pregnant women fetuses are among high-risk groups for COVID-19. In this review, we summarize studies regarding SARS-CoV-2 virus-placenta interactions at maternal-fetal interface by demonstrating pathogenicity virus defense methods placenta. Evidence Acquisition: present ...

Listeria monocytogenes causes foodborne outbreaks that lead to infection in human and other mammalian fetuses. To elucidate the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in transplacental transmission, we characterized placental-fetal infection in pregnant guinea pigs inoculated with wild-type (wt) or mutant L. monocytogenes strains. The wt strain increased in number in the placenta by >1000-f...