Does the risk of cerebral palsy increase or decrease with increasing gestational age?

BACKGROUND: It is generally accepted that the risk of cerebral palsy decreases with increasing gestational age of live born infants. However, recent studies have shown that cerebral palsy often has prenatal antecedents including congenital malformations, vascular insults and maternal infection. Cerebral palsy is therefore better viewed as occurring among fetuses, rather than among infants. We explored the epidemiologic implications of this change in perspective. METHODS: We used recently published data from Shiga Prefecture, Japan and from North-East England to examine the pattern of gestational age-specific rates of cerebral palsy under these alternative perspectives. We first calculated gestational age-specific rates of cerebral palsy as per convention, by dividing the number of cases of cerebral palsy identified among live births within any gestational age category by the number of live births in that gestational age category. Under the alternative formulation, we calculated gestational age-specific rates of cerebral palsy by dividing the number of cases of cerebral palsy identified among live births within any gestational age category by the number of fetuses who were at risk of being born at that gestation and being afflicted with cerebral palsy. RESULTS: Under the conventional formulation, cerebral palsy rates decreased with increasing gestational age from 63.9 per 1,000 live births at <28 weeks gestation to 0.9 per 1,000 live births at 37 or more weeks gestation. When fetuses were viewed as potential candidates for cerebral palsy, cerebral palsy rates increased with increasing gestational age from 0.08 per 1,000 fetuses at risk at <28 weeks gestation to 0.9 per 1,000 fetuses at risk at 37 or more weeks gestation. CONCLUSIONS: The fetuses-at-risk approach is the appropriate epidemiologic formulation for calculating the gestational age-specific rate of cerebral palsy from a causal perspective. It shows that the risk of cerebral palsy increases as gestational duration increases. This compelling view of cerebral palsy risk may help refocus research aimed at understanding and preventing cerebral palsy

In vitro and in vivo safety evaluation of Dipteryx alata Vogel extract

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Dipteryx alata </it>Vogel popularly known as "baru" is an important commercial leguminous tree species from the Brazilian Cerrado, which possess medicinal properties, besides its fruits consumption by animals and humans. The use of the "naturally occurring plants" as herbal remedies and foods mainly from leaves, seeds, flowers and roots of plants or extracts require precautions before ensuring these are safe and efficacious. The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety of <it>D. alata </it>barks extract.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Vegetal drugs of <it>D. alata </it>barks were submitted to quality control assays and further to the safety assays under 1) <it>in vitro </it>parameter by <it>Salmonella </it>(Ames) mutagenicity, and 2) <it>in vivo </it>parameter on the pregnancy of rats.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The extract was non-mutagenic to any of the assessed strains TA97a, TA98, TA100 and TA102 even after metabolic activation (+S9). All <it>in vivo </it>parameters (reproductive ability evaluation, physical development of rat offsprings, and neurobehavioral development assays) showed no changes related to control group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p><it>D. alata </it>barks extract is neither mutagenic by the Ames test nor toxic in the pregnancy of rats, with no physical-neurobehavioral consequences on the rat offsprings development.</p

Single-copy gene fluorescence in situ hybridization and genome analysis: Acc-2 loci mark evolutionary chromosomal rearrangements in wheat

Citation: Danilova, T. V., Friebe, B., & Gill, B. S. (2012). Single-copy gene fluorescence in situ hybridization and genome analysis: Acc-2 loci mark evolutionary chromosomal rearrangements in wheat. Retrieved from http://krex.ksu.eduFluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) is a useful tool for physical mapping of chromosomes and studying evolutionary chromosome rearrangements. Here we report a robust method for single-copy gene FISH for wheat. FISH probes were developed from cDNA of cytosolic acetyl-CoA carboxylase gene (Acc-2) and mapped on chromosomes of bread wheat, Triticum aestivum L. (2n=6x=42, AABBDD), and related diploid and tetraploid species. Another nine full-length cDNA FISH probes were mapped and used to identify chromosomes of wheat species. The Acc-2 probe was detected on the long arms of each of the homoeologous group-3 chromosomes (3A, 3B, and 3D), on 5DL and 4AL of bread wheat, and on homoeologous and nonhomoeologous chromosomes of other species. In the species tested, FISH detected more Acc-2 gene or pseudogene sites than previously found by PCR and Southern hybridization analysis and showed presence/absence polymorphism of Acc-2 sequences. FISH with the Acc-2 probe revealed the 4A-5A translocation, shared by several related diploid and polyploid species and inherited from an ancestral A-genome species, and the T. timopheevii specific 4A[superscript t]-3A[superscript t] translocation

Cognition- and anxiety-related behavior, synaptophysin and MAP2 immunoreactivity in the adult rat treated with a single course of antenatal betamethasone

We investigated the effects of a single course of antenatal betamethasone on cognition- and anxiety-related behavior and synaptophysin and microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) immunoreactivity in the adult rat hippocampus. On d 20 of gestation, pregnant rats were injected with either 1) 170 mu g/kg body weight of betamethasone ("clinically equivalent dose," equivalent to 12 mg twice, 24 h apart); 2) half this dose; or 3) vehicle. Cognition- and anxiety-related behavior of the offspring was analyzed at an age of 5 mo using the Morris water maze, object recognition task, and open field test. Subsequently, synaptophysin and MAP2 immunoreactivity were measured in the hippocampus. We report no detrimental effects of antenatal betamethasone on cognition- and anxiety-related behavior and synaptophysin immunoreactivity in the adult rat. On the other hand, MAP2 immunoreactivity was decreased by betamethasone in males, suggesting a permanent impairment in the hippocampus. Interestingly, the lower dose appears to have less influence in terms of growth restriction, known to be associated with an increased risk of disease in adulthood. Further research might elucidate whether the betamethasone effect on hippocampal neurons persists later in life and could affect the aging process increasing the risk for neuropathology of the adult