Prenatal diagnosis of monogenic diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and beta-thalassemia, is currently offered as part of public health programs. However, current methods based on chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis for obtaining fetal genetic material pose a risk to the fetus. Since the discovery of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma, the noninvasive prenatal assessment of paternally...

Concentrations of beta-carotene were determined in maternal and fetal blood. The samples were collected from 33 mothers, their 33 newborns and 50 pregnant and 29 non-pregnant women. Beta-carotene concentrations of the non-pregnant, pregnant, newborn infant and their mothers were 140.31, 171.54, 63.57 and 175.74 micrograms/dl, respectively. There was a significant correlation (P < 0.001) between...

During pregnancy, the mother provides multiple nutrients and substances to the foetus, with maternal immunoglobulin G (IgG) being actively transported to the foetus. Newborns depend on maternal IgG for immune-protection in their first months. The glycosylation of IgG has been shown to influence its dynamics, e.g. receptor binding. While minor differences in IgG glycosylation have been found bet...

Current methods for definitive prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal aneuploidy, such as chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis, are invasive and associated with a risk of fetal miscarriage. In 1997, our group reported the presence of fetal DNA in maternal plasma and offered new possibilities for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis. However, fetal DNA exists as a minor fraction among a high backgr...

OBJECTIVE Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy-specific syndrome and one of the leading causes of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. The pathophysiological mechanisms of PE remain poorly known. Recently, circulating miRNAs are considered as potential useful noninvasive biomarkers. The aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed plasma miRNAs in preeclamptic pregnancies compa...

X-linked disorders. N Engl J Med 2002;346:1502. 3. Lo YMD, Hjelm NM, Fidler C, Sargent IL, Murphy MF, Chamberlain PF, et al. Prenatal diagnosis of fetal RhD status by molecular analysis of maternal plasma. N Engl J Med 1998;339:1734–8. 4. Chiu RWK, Lau TK, Leung TN, Chow KCK, Chui DHK, Lo YMD. Prenatal exclusion of -thalassaemia major by examination of maternal plasma. Lancet 2002;360:998–1000....

BACKGROUND Recently, apoptotic cells have been found in plasma obtained by centrifugation of blood from pregnant women, raising the question of what constitutes plasma and whether plasma is truly cell free. We compared the effects of different blood-processing protocols on the quantification, DNA composition, and day-to-day fluctuation of fetal and total DNA in maternal plasma. METHODS Blood ...

Previous studies in our laboratory have shown that a modest chronic increase in maternal cortisol concentrations impairs maternal glucose metabolism and increases the incidence of perinatal stillbirth. The dramatic outcomes prevented our ability to study the effects of maternal hypercortisolemia on neonatal growth, glucose metabolism, and hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis response. Therefore, ...

OBJECTIVE This study was designed to compare glucose, lipids, and C-reactive protein (CRP) in women with gestational diabetes mellitus treated with metformin or insulin and in cord plasma of their offspring and to examine how these markers relate to infant size at birth. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Women with gestational diabetes mellitus were randomly assigned to metformin or insulin in the ...

OBJECTIVE Adipose tissue dysfunction, characterized by dysregulation of adipokines production and/or secretion, has been implicated in the pathophysiology of type-2 diabetes mellitus, a metabolic complication closely related to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Recently, an association between circulating maternal visfatin, a novel adipokine with metabolic and immunoregulatory properties, an...