Reducing the Risk of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: Understanding Providers' Beliefs, Knowledge, and Practices of Prenatal Physical Activity Prescription

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), including gestational hypertension and preeclampsia, increase acute complications, maternal mortality, and development of hypertension and coronary artery disease later in life. Prenatal physical activity (PPA) reduces the risk of HDP development. Obstetric care providers (OCPs) are crucial in advising patients on the best practices of PPA. Despite the belief among OCPs in other developed countries that PPA is beneficial, few are familiar with endorsed guidelines or discuss PPA with their patients. The purpose of this study was to explore what OCPs believe, know, and practice with respect to PPA and its prescription. Semi-structured virtual interviews were conducted with Canadian nurse practitioners (NPs) (n = 2; 39.5 ± 4.9 (X ± SD) years of age) and midwives (n = 4; 39.5 ± 7.3 years of age). Four overarching themes were identified using reflexive thematic analysis: 1) Restricted Scope of PPA Practice for HDP, 2) PPA is Very Important for Health in and Beyond Pregnancy, 3) PPA is a Highly Individualized Patient Experience, and 4) Lack of Training in PPA Among Providers. While prescription practices were limited due to HDP referral protocols, all participants strongly believed in the benefits and importance of PPA. This belief stemmed from experience, knowledge of Canadian PPA guidelines and evidence-based literature. PPA recommendations were individualized yet grounded in national guidelines. Participants identified a gap in PPA training and provided suggestions for improvement. Taken together, this work lays the foundation for optimizing OCP recommendation and patient uptake of PPA

CAN U GRIP for Life: Investigating Knowledge, Willingness, and Perceived Barriers to Long-Term Isometric Handgrip Training as a Tool for Hypertension Prevention.

Consistent with the TCPS 2 (4.7) this is a research summary provided to participants and should not be considered a formal publication of results.Cheri McGowa

The G-quartet containing FMRP binding site in FMR1 mRNA is a potent exonic splicing enhancer

The fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) is a RNA-binding protein proposed to post-transcriptionally regulate the expression of genes important for neuronal development and synaptic plasticity. We previously demonstrated that FMRP binds to its own FMR1 mRNA via a guanine-quartet (G-quartet) RNA motif. However, the functional effect of this binding on FMR1 expression was not established. In this work, we characterized the FMRP binding site (FBS) within the FMR1 mRNA by a site directed mutagenesis approach and we investigated its importance for FMR1 expression. We show that the FBS in the FMR1 mRNA adopts two alternative G-quartet structures to which FMRP can equally bind. While FMRP binding to mRNAs is generally proposed to induce translational regulation, we found that mutations in the FMR1 mRNA suppressing binding to FMRP do not affect its translation in cellular models. We show instead that the FBS is a potent exonic splicing enhancer in a minigene system. Furthermore, FMR1 alternative splicing is affected by the intracellular level of FMRP. These data suggest that the G-quartet motif present in the FMR1 mRNA can act as a control element of its alternative splicing in a negative autoregulatory loop

Reducing the Risk of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: Understanding Providers’ Beliefs, Knowledge, and Practices of Prenatal Physical Activity Prescription

Consistent with the TCPS 2 (4.7) this is a research summary provided to participants and should not be considered a formal publication of results.Cheri McGowa

Diklofenak Sodyum ve Montelukast Sodyumun Travmatik Omurilik Yaralanmalarında Akut Enflamasyon Üzerindeki Koruyucu Etkileri: Sıçanlarda Deneysel Bir Çalışma

Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı travmatik omurilik yaralanmasında (T-SCI) diklofenak sodyum (DF) ve montelukast sodyumun (ML) akut enflamasyon üzerindeki koruyucu etkilerini araştırmaktır. Gereç ve Yöntem: Kırk Sprague-Dawley sıçanı rastgele beş gruba ayrıldı. Kontrol grubuna herhangi bir müdahale yapılmazken, travma grubuna SCI uygulandı. Kalan üç gruba travma sonrası diklofenak sodyum (tDF), ML (tML) ve tDF+ML intraperitoneal yolla uygulandı. Sıçanlar sakrifiye edildikten sonra hem omurilik hem de dura içeren doku örnekleri histopatolojik incelemeye tabi tutuldu ve ödem, nekroz, enflamatuvar hücreler, apoptoz, nöron hasarı ve kanama açısından skorlandı. Bulgular: Kontrol ve travma grupları arasındaki histopatolojik değişikliklerde gruplar arasında anlamlı fark bulundu (p0,05). Kontrol grubu ile gruplar arasında ödem farkı olmayan grubun tDF grubu olduğu görüldü (p=0,059). Enflamatuvar hücreler incelendiğinde hücre miktarının en az tDF grubunda olduğu izlendi (p=0,068). Nekroz (p=0,1), apoptoz (p=0,061) ve nöral hasar durumunun (p=0,139) tDF+ML kombine grubunda en az olduğu görüldü. Kanama miktarı açısından gruplar arasında anlamlı bir fark yoktu (p>0,05). Sonuç: DF’nin tek başına kullanımı ödem ve enflamatuvar hücre sayısını azaltırken, DF+ML’nin birlikte kullanımının T-SCI’da nekroz, apoptoz ve nöral hasar gelişimini azalttığı saptandı

FMRP Mediates mGluR(5)-Dependent Translation of Amyloid Precursor Protein

Amyloid precursor protein (APP) facilitates synapse formation in the developing brain, while beta-amyloid (Aβ) accumulation, which is associated with Alzheimer disease, results in synaptic loss and impaired neurotransmission. Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) is a cytoplasmic mRNA binding protein whose expression is lost in fragile X syndrome. Here we show that FMRP binds to the coding region of APP mRNA at a guanine-rich, G-quartet–like sequence. Stimulation of cortical synaptoneurosomes or primary neuronal cells with the metabotropic glutamate receptor agonist DHPG increased APP translation in wild-type but not fmr-1 knockout samples. APP mRNA coimmunoprecipitated with FMRP in resting synaptoneurosomes, but the interaction was lost shortly after DHPG treatment. Soluble Aβ(40) or Aβ(42) levels were significantly higher in multiple strains of fmr-1 knockout mice compared to wild-type controls. Our data indicate that postsynaptic FMRP binds to and regulates the translation of APP mRNA through metabotropic glutamate receptor activation and suggests a possible link between Alzheimer disease and fragile X syndrome