L Poston

..Importantly, dissection of the mechanism in animals has led to description of novel interactive pathways between maternal environment and fetus which are amenable to investigation in humans...

..Hence the objective of this study is to determine the efficacy of antenatal dietary, activity, behaviour or lifestyle interventions in overweight and obese pregnant women to improve maternal and perinatal outcomes...

..To address the recent evidence which suggests that inappropriate gestational weight gain (GWG) may have consequences that extend to the longer term health of the child...

..This study compared the number of pedometer step counts with accelerometer data in pregnant women in free-living conditions to assess agreement between these measures...

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..Further investigation is required into the intriguing suggestion that early life nutritional imbalance may adversely influence vascular angiogenesis leading to rarefaction and increased peripheral vascular resistance...

..Endothelial dysfunction, unlike pre-eclampsia, does not resolve post-partum, and persistence of the defect may underpin the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in later life...

..Other potential approaches for preventing preeclampsia through amelioration of oxidative stress include the use of supplements in the preconceptual period, selenium supplements, antiperoxynitrite strategies, and statins...

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..Our aim was to investigate the potential benefit of these antioxidants in a cohort of women with a range of clinical risk factors...

..It was recently shown by the present authors that supplementation with vitamin C and E from early in pregnancy leads to a reduction in the incidence of the disease in "high-risk" women...

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..Several larger trials are under way to investigate the precise role that vitamins C and E can play in the prevention of preeclampsia...

..This and several other similarities may indicate commonality of mechanism and could reflect supranormal nutritional status in postnatal life in both conditions...

..CONCLUSIONS: Predictive adaptive responses prevent endothelial dysfunction and reduced heart rate in offspring of fat-fed dams if offspring are raised on the same diet but do not prevent development of raised blood pressure...

..01) were enhanced. Moderate maternal undernutrition in rat gestation adversely affects cardiovascular function in the offspring. These abnormalities increase with age and are more pronounced in males...

..However, exposure during pregnancy confers adaptive protection against endothelial dysfunction induced by maternal fat feeding during suckling...

..05) when compared to corresponding term placental values. NAD(P)H oxidase mediated superoxide generation could be an important modulator of the antioxidant defence response in early pregnancy...

..Developmentally programmed hyperphagia, physical inactivity, and altered adipocyte metabolism may play a mechanistic role...

..The present study aimed to model psychological predictors of intentions to reduce intake of high-fat and high-sugar foods, and increase fruit and vegetable consumption, among pregnant women...

..5. This study demonstrates that a high fat diet in pregnant rats produces abnormal vascular function, plasma lipid disturbances and altered vascular fatty acid content in their female offspring during adulthood...

..In summary, the isoflavone content of soy protein has no influence on blood pressure in healthy rats fed a diet based on soy protein, but influences small artery function...

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..In conclusion, reduced endothelium-dependent relaxation in OHF mesenteric arteries is due to impaired EDHF-mediated relaxation. This defect was not apparent in femoral arteries in which EDHF has a less prominent role...

..We conclude that the activity of SERCA isoforms becomes increasingly important in the maintenance of regular contractile activity during labor and may compensate for the functional loss of other calcium control pathways at term...

..CONCLUSION: Antioxidant supplementation in women who were at risk of preeclampsia was associated with improvement in biochemical indices of the disease...

..Obesity and NAFLD rates in reproductive age women, and adolescents, are rising worldwide. Our hypothesis was that maternal obesity and lactation transmit to the offspring a pre-disposition to dysmetabolism, obesity and NAFLD...

..Sex-related alterations in key insulin-signaling proteins and in mitochondrial ETC may contribute to a state of insulin resistance in offspring of obese mice...

..The evidence for defective placentation in APS pregnancies and involvement of aPLs in this process is summarized. Finally hypotheses based on the interpretation of these studies are discussed...

..These data justify more detailed investigation of the role of NAD(P)H oxidase and placental oxidative stress in complicated pregnancies...

..Further studies in beta-ERKO mice with established hypertension and in alpha-ERKO mice are warranted...

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..The mechanisms involved in the onset of preterm labor are poorly understood, mainly because the mechanisms initiating term labor remain ill-defined...

..To evaluate the clinical and geographical variation in the use of aspirin in women at high risk of pre-eclampsia, and in the use of antihypertensive drugs and magnesium sulphate in women with established pre-eclampsia...

..7. These results indicate that endothelial beta2-adrenergic stimulation and cyclic AMP elevation activate the L-arginine/NO system, and give rise to vasorelaxation, in human umbilical vein...

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..The exaggerated pressor response to leptin in OffOb rats was maintained. Hypertension in the offspring of obese rats may arise from persistent sympathoexcitatory hyperresponsiveness acquired in early stages of development...

..IL-1beta modulation of calcium mobilization may be an important mechanism in the cascade of events preparing the pregnant uterus for labor...

..The deficiency in G6PD in preeclampsia potentially accounts for the lack of protection against oxidative stress afforded by antioxidant vitamin C/E supplementation in the VIP trial...

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..We conclude that prenatal stress during late gestation has long-lasting effects on cardiovascular responsiveness and vascular reactivity to neuropeptide Y in the offspring...

..Despite normal renal stereology, altered renal Na+,K+-ATPase and renin activity offers further insight into the mechanism underlying the increased blood pressure characteristic of this model...

..Paradoxically, smoking is an independent risk factor for superimposed preeclampsia in chronic hypertension, in contrast to the protective effect in low-risk pregnant women...

..These suggest that maternal over-nutrition is deleterious to the health of offspring and can result in a phenotype of the offspring that is characteristic of metabolic syndrome...

..Feeding a diet rich in lard to pregnant rats leads to gender-related cardiovascular dysfunction in normally fed offspring...

..The validity of the different species, diets, feeding regimes and end-point measures used is also discussed...

..To develop clinical risk tools for preeclampsia and small for gestational age (SGA) in high-risk women...

..We suggest that behaviour-based gestational weight gain reduction interventions be more systematically designed, evaluated and reported to build on insights from behavioural science...

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..The importance of the Barker hypothesis, relating faulty maternal nutrition to low birth weight and subsequent disease in adult life, is examined in relation to vascular function...

..The aim of this study was to investigate the placental bed in APS pregnancies for evidence of impaired trophoblast invasion, endothelial cell activation (ECA) and macrophage infiltration...

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..Insulin resistance is associated with endothelial dysfunction; however, the mechanistic relationship between these abnormalities and the role of impaired endothelial insulin signaling versus global insulin resistance remains unclear...

..In utero and neonatal exposure to a maternal diet rich in saturated fatty acids is associated with altered activity and expression of Na(+),K(+)-ATPase in adulthood, but mechanisms appear tissue specific...

..We sought to investigate pregnancy outcome and biomarkers of oxidative stress in nulliparous obese pregnant women...

..These changes may precede perturbed late-gestation fetal and postnatal cardiovascular control...

..Such effects may underlie the developmental programming of hyperphagia and obesity in these rats...

..CONCLUSION: Despite poorer pregnancy outcome, there was no evidence of greater endothelial cell activation in antiphospholipid syndrome pregnancies that were treated...

..CONCLUSION: Gestational profiles of several markers were abnormal in the group with preeclampsia, and some of the markers that may prove useful in the selective prediction of preeclampsia were identified...

..The improvement in endothelial function, increased gene expression, and reduced blood pressure by soy isoflavones have implications for alternative therapy for postmenopausal women and patients at risk of coronary heart disease...

..Further research is needed to determine if the rise in leptin plays a role in preeclampsia or whether it is a secondary and unrelated bystander...

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..Continued elevated levels of some MMPs post-partum may contribute to vessel regression and return to a non-pregnant physiological state...

..These data suggest that MMP-2 and MMP-3 may contribute to adaptive processes in the maternal rat aorta at different gestations and further support a role for this family of enzymes in physiological vascular remodelling...

..This is one of the first oscillometric monitors designed for routine use in a hospital environment that has been found to provide an accurate assessment of BP by accepted validation procedures...

..007) or at term (P = 0.009). Measurement of saliva progesterone may be of value in the prediction of early preterm labour and in determining which women might benefit from progesterone supplementation...

..05). TrpC3 up-regulation was unaffected by cyclooxygenase blockade. These data demonstrate physiological regulation of TrpC mRNA and protein and suggest an important role for TrpC proteins in human myometrium during labor...

..Inflationary oscillometry may correct the error associated with oscillometric devices in pre-eclampsia...

..The purpose of this study was to determine the concentrations of serum insulin-like growth factor-I and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 in pregnancies that are complicated with primary antiphospholipid syndrome...

..A combination test involving several relevant biomarkers is likely to provide the best predictive potential...

..This would impair the placentation process leading to chronic oxidative stress in the placenta and finally to diffuse maternal endothelial cell dysfunction...

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..Thus RAMP2 plays a key role in the sensitivity and potency of AM-induced hypotensive responses via the AM1 receptor, providing evidence that this receptor is a selective target for novel therapeutic approaches...

..05), respectively. These data support the hypothesis that uterine stretch modulates uterine growth and contractility in pregnancy via alterations in calcium signalling...

..TrpC protein immunostaining in HMSM cells was distributed in a distinct reticular fashion. TrpC proteins may be candidate proteins forming SOCE channels in term pregnant human myometrium...

..35). CONCLUSION: Metronidazole does not reduce early preterm birth in high risk pregnant women selected by history and a positive vaginal fFN test. Preterm delivery may be increased by metronidazole therapy...

..Additionally, on the basis of this study, reference ranges for biochemical markers of liver function require reevaluation in pregnancy...

..These changes could play an important role in adaptation to extrauterine life...

..This chapter discusses the effects of maternal obesity on fetal development and birth outcomes as well as the manner in which DOHaD may contribute to the obesity epidemic...

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..Reduced vasodilation may be a potential mechanism underlying the elevated systolic blood pressure observed in this model...

..We conclude that dietary protein restriction in pregnancy programmes vasodilator dysfunction in isolated resistance arteries of female offspring when they become pregnant, but does not affect conduit arteries...

..This effect is significantly attenuated by continued undernutrition in early post-natal life. These experiments suggest that in utero and early post-natal undernutrition may be important determinants of graft function in later life...

..However, in obese women, it is difficult to disentangle the genetic and environmental contributions. The aim of this study was to investigate whether diet-induced obesity results in GDM in rats with the same genetic background...

..The concept of developmental origins of adult disease focuses predominately on fetal life but must also include a role for maternal cardiovascular function...

..005 respectively). Thus low-protein diets impair vasodilator responses in female rats. These effects may contribute to the poor cardiovascular adaptation to pregnancy and lower fetal weights associated with restricted protein intake...

..The data suggest that in WT male mice, ERbeta reduces EDHF-mediated relaxation through gap junction communication...

..Our findings have substantial implications for devising strategies to reduce the impact of a mismatch in nutrition levels in humans undergoing rapid socio-economic transitions in both developing and developed societies...

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..As these changes are sustained in culture in vitro, this may reflect long-term "programming" of the fetal cardiovascular system...

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..This and our work with fetal endothelial cells (FASEB J. 10.1096/fj.01-0916fje) demonstrate phenotypic changes in the fetal vasculature in PE...

..pneumoniae antibodies in the women with previous pre-eclampsia, and therefore suggests that there may be an association between C. pneumoniae and the disease in this group...

..Because NO appeared to contribute to responses to 17beta-E2 in arteries from beta-ERKO but not WT mice, the presence of ER- apparently inhibits ER--mediated NO relaxation...

..beta-adrenoceptor-mediated dilatation was also enhanced in estrogen receptor-beta knockout versus wild-type males. We suggest that estrogen receptor-beta modifies the adrenergic control of small artery tone in males but not in females...

..The contribution of NO to dilatory responses by these compounds is pertinent to arteries from control males, whereas other NO-independent dilatory mechanism(s) are involved in arteries from CHD...

..Our objective was to assess vascular endothelial function and morphology in resistance vasculature from healthy pre- and postmenopausal women in vitro and to determine potential mechanisms of vascular protection by estrogenic compounds...