544 research outputs found
Preeclampsia and MicroRNAs
Preeclampsia is a critical gestational condition that threatens the life of both mother and child. One of the most serious aspects of preeclampsia hampering both clinical management and scientific understanding is that there are, as yet, no early warning signs or risk markers. The discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs), tiny post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression, offers potentially fertile ground for developing such markers. The current state of knowledge about miRNAs in preeclampsia is presented along with information regarding miRNA detection in peripheral fluids that could lead to minimally invasive risk assessment
Evaluation of the VNTR region in the IDO promoter in women with preeclampsia
Indoleamine 2,3 â dioxygenase (IDO) is an enzyme that aids in immunosuppression and tolerance. Previous studies have shown decreased IDO activity in pregnancies affected by preeclampsia, but the mechanism for this altered activity is unknown. Our study was designed to analyze the promoter region of IDO in preeclamptic and control women and identify the frequency of a VNTR genotype that has been shown to be significantly correlated with tryptophan levels in women; a surrogate marker for IDO activity
Global fetal DNA methylation and birth outcomes in obese women
Pregnant women who are obese are more likely to have gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia, macrosomia, operative vaginal delivery, and cesarean delivery. Obesity also has adverse implications for the neonate. Congenital anomalies are more common in children born to obese women. These include neural tube defects, gastroschisis, cardiovascular anomalies, and others. Although the connection between maternal obesity and chronic health conditions has been described, the mechanism by which this occurs is less well understood. Changes to the epigenetic structure of offspring DNA have been proposed as one such mechanism
Effects of biological factors on the expression of arginine vasopressin receptors
Arginine vasopressin (AVP) is a hormone that functions to regulate blood pressure and bodily fluid homeostasis. Vasopressin has three main receptors AVPR1a, AVPR1b, and AVPR2 which were investigated in this project along with OXTR, LNPEP, and CUL5. AVPR1a functions in the smooth muscle and causes vasoconstriction, AVPR1b functions in the pituitary helping to regulate adrenocorticotropic hormone release, and AVPR2 is expressed highly in the kidneys and works to concentrate urine. This project investigates how these various receptors are expressed with different factors related to pregnancy such as, sex of the baby, chronically hypertensive mothers, and gestational age at deliver
The relationship between obesity, pregnancy, and levels of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase
For a successful pregnancy to occur, foreign genetic material such as the allogeneic fetus must be tolerated within the maternal host. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is an enzyme induced by pro-inflammatory cytokines that has been shown to be key to this process. Obesity as a pro-inflammatory state is associated with poor obstetric outcomes. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between obesity and IDO activity
A predictive model for serous epithelial ovarian cancer chemo-response using clinical characteristics
One of the prognostic factors most highly associated with ovarian cancer survival is response to initial chemotherapy. Current prediction models of chemo-response built with comprehensive molecular datasets, like The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), could be improved by including clinical and outcomes data designed to study response to treatment. The objective of this study was to create a prediction model of ovarian cancer chemo-response using clinical-pathological features, and to compare its performance with a similar TCGA clinical model
Planets in Stellar Clusters Extensive Search. III. A search for transiting planets in the metal-rich open cluster NGC 6791
We have undertaken a long-term project, Planets in Stellar Clusters Extensive
Search (PISCES), to search for transiting planets in open clusters. In this
paper we present the results for NGC 6791 -- a very old, populous, metal rich
cluster. We have monitored the cluster for over 300 hours, spread over 84
nights. We have not detected any good transiting planet candidates. Given the
photometric precision and temporal coverage of our observations, and current
best estimates for the frequency and radii of short-period planets, the
expected number of detectable transiting planets in our sample is 1.5. We have
discovered 14 new variable stars in the cluster, most of which are eclipsing
binaries, and present high precision light curves, spanning two years, for
these new variables and also the previously known variables.Comment: 18 pages LaTeX, including 11 figures and 6 tables. Limb darkening
included in the computation of the planet detection efficiency. Version with
full resolution figures available through ftp at
ftp://cfa-ftp.harvard.edu/pub/bmochejs/PISCES/papers/3_N6791
- âŠ