Cell Free Expression of hif1α and p21 in Maternal Peripheral Blood as a Marker for Preeclampsia and Fetal Growth Restriction

Preeclampsia, a severe unpredictable complication of pregnancy, occurs in 6% of pregnancies, usually in the second or third trimester. The specific etiology of preeclampsia remains unclear, although the pathophysiological hallmark of this condition appears to be an inadequate blood supply to the placenta. As a result of the impaired placental blood flow, intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and consequential fetal oxidative stress may occur. Consistent with this view, pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia and IUGR are characterized by up-regulation of key transcriptional regulators of the hypoxic response including, hif1α and as well as p53 and its target genes. Recently, the presence of circulating cell-free fetal RNA has been documented in maternal plasma. We speculated that pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia and IUGR, will be associated with an abnormal expression of p53 and/or hif1α related genes in the maternal plasma. Maternal plasma from 113 singleton pregnancies (72 normal and 41 complicated pregnancies) and 19 twins (9 normal and 10 complicated pregnancies) were collected and cell free RNA was extracted. The expression of 18 genes was measured by one step real-time RT-PCR and was analyzed for prevalence of positive/negative expression levels. Results indicate that, among the genes examined, cell free plasma expressions of p21 and hif1α were more prevalent in pregnancies complicated by hypoxia and/or IUGR (p<0.001). To conclude, we present in this manuscript data to support the association between two possible surrogate markers of hypoxia and common complications of pregnancy. More work is needed in order to implement these findings in clinical practice

Rationale, design, methodology and sample characteristics for the family partners for health study: a cluster randomized controlled study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Young children who are overweight are at increased risk of becoming obese and developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease later in life. Therefore, early intervention is critical. This paper describes the rationale, design, methodology, and sample characteristics of a 5-year cluster randomized controlled trial being conducted in eight elementary schools in rural North Carolina, United States.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>The first aim of the trial is to examine the effects of a two-phased intervention on weight status, adiposity, nutrition and exercise health behaviors, and self-efficacy in overweight or obese 2nd, 3 rd, and 4th grade children and their overweight or obese parents. The primary outcome in children is stabilization of BMI percentile trajectory from baseline to 18 months. The primary outcome in parents is a decrease in BMI from baseline to 18 months. Secondary outcomes for both children and parents include adiposity, nutrition and exercise health behaviors, and self-efficacy from baseline to 18 months. A secondary aim of the trial is to examine in the experimental group, the relationships between parents and children's changes in weight status, adiposity, nutrition and exercise health behaviors, and self-efficacy. An exploratory aim is to determine whether African American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white children and parents in the experimental group benefit differently from the intervention in weight status, adiposity, health behaviors, and self-efficacy.</p> <p>A total of 358 African American, non-Hispanic white, and bilingual Hispanic children with a BMI ≥ 85th percentile and 358 parents with a BMI ≥ 25 kg/m²have been inducted over 3 1/2 years and randomized by cohort to either an experimental or a wait-listed control group. The experimental group receives a 12-week intensive intervention of nutrition and exercise education, coping skills training and exercise (Phase I), 9 months of continued monthly contact (Phase II) and then 6 months (follow-up) on their own. Safety endpoints include adverse event reporting. Intention-to-treat analysis will be applied to all data.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Findings from this trial may lead to an effective intervention to assist children and parents to work together to improve nutrition and exercise patterns by making small lifestyle pattern changes.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p><a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01378806">NCT01378806</a>.</p

Food manufacturing for babies and children: Editor’s perspective

Child feeding has been the focus of attention for various international, national and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the most important of which is the United Nations International Children´s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). In this sense, some efforts for the development of infant foods have been conducted to improve the nutritional quality of this susceptible demographic population. Future perspectives on food development in terms of food science, technology and nutrition for babies and children will be given in this first chapter as an introduction to this book.Fil: Gutiérrez Carmona, Tomy José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; Argentin

Relation of clinical data to genes expression in the presence or absence of hypoxia.

<p>Average of each parameter in the study groups is shown. p-values determined by the bootstrap are marked by the letter a.</p

Joint distribution of p21 and hif1α in the study population.

<p>No expression (−), Positive (+).</p

Association between hypertension, proteinuria, abnormal fetoplacental Doppler and IUGR with the expressions of the different genes in the maternal plasma.

<p>For p21, hif1α, VEGF and mdm2, logistic regression statistic was used.</p>*<p>For ERCC, Fisher's test was used. Significant results (p<0.05) in bold.</p

Prevalence of mRNA expressions in normal and hypoxic pregnancies.

<p>The number of cases (n) and percentage of cases (%) in each group with no expression (−) and positive expression (+). χ² tests are shown, significant results (p<0.05). NS, not significant.</p