4 research outputs found
Combined Car and Air Brake Coupling
Patent for the connection between two railway cars
Adverse pregnancy outcomes and imbalance in angiogenic growth mediators and oxidative stress biomarkers is associated with advanced maternal age births: A prospective cohort study in Ghana
Background Advanced maternal age (AMA) has been associated with negative pregnancy outcomes. Oxidative stress (OS) and defective placental dysfunction are contributing factors. This study determined the association between AMA and adverse pregnancy outcomes, OS biomarkers and angiogenic growth mediators (AGMs) in normal pregnancies. Methods This prospective cohort study conducted at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) Department of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) finally included 175 normal pregnant women comprising, 58 AMA (35β45 years), 55 (30β34 years) and 62 optimal childbearing age (20β29 years). Venous blood samples were collected at 28β32 weeks for soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1), placental growth factor (PIGF), 8-epiprostaglandinF2-Ξ± (8-epi-PGF2Ξ±) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) assays. Results Pregnancies of AMA had a significantly higher levels of sFlt-1, 8-epi-PGF2Ξ± and 8-epi-PGF2Ξ±: PIGF ratio but a reduced level of PIGF, TAC and PIGF: sFlt-1 ratio compared to 20β29 years (p\u3c0.0001). A significant negative correlation between AMA and PIGF (r = -0.294; p = 0.038); TAC (r = -0.215; p = 0.001) and PIGF: sFlt-1 ratio (r = -0.457; p\u3c0.0001) and a positive correlation with sFlt-1 (r = 0.269; p = 0.017), 8-epiPGF2Ξ± (r = 0.277; p = 0.029) and 8-epi-PGF2: PIGF ratio (r = 0.461; p\u3c0.0001) levels were observed. The adjusted odds ratio (aOR), and 95% confidence interval, and p value for the significant independent adverse outcomes associated with AMA were emergency caesarean section [21.7 (5.9β121.3), p\u3c00001], elective caesarean section [2.7(0.9β5.8), p = 0.0105], stillbirth [12.6 (1.4β82.1), p\u3c0.0001], post-partum haemorrhage [4.3(1.1β18.5), p = 0.0094], preterm delivery [8.2(3.5β28.4), p\u3c0.0001], low birth weight babies [9.7(2.8β29.3), p\u3c0.0001], birth asphyxia [3.8(1.6β12.7), p = 0.0054], Apgar score 7 after 5 min for babies [10.1(4.7β23.2), p\u3c0.0001], placental abruption [3.5(1.3β8.4), p = 0.0117] and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) [4.6(2.3β12.9), p = 0.0001]. Conclusion AMA pregnancies correlate with adverse pregnancy outcomes and imbalance in OS biomarkers and AGMs. It is incumbent on health care givers to provide effective antenatal care among AMA mothers as early identification of these imbalance and treatment can prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes. Copyright: Β© 2018 Odame Anto et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited