vitamin-k-semiquinone-radical and Fetal-Growth-Retardation

A decrease in the rate of preterm births and the prevention of prematurity-associated neurodevelopmental morbidity are critical for the reduction of neurodevelopmental disability. Efforts to reduce the overall preterm delivery rate have been unsuccessful. Although progress has been achieved in the prevention of short-term neonatal morbidity over the past several decades, the majority of the improvements have resulted from improved neonatal care. Whether obstetric interventions can improve neurodevelopmental outcome is unknown. The ability to adequately assess obstetric interventions is hampered by the limited number of interventional studies that included long-term outcome assessment. Thus, it is incumbent upon ongoing and future interventional studies to consider long-term outcome assessment as a critical component of the overall evaluation of efficacy of obstetric therapies.

Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Developmental Disabilities; Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; Female; Fetal Growth Retardation; Fetal Monitoring; Humans; Infant Mortality; Infant, Newborn; Intensive Care, Neonatal; Obstetric Labor, Premature; Phenobarbital; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Outcome; Prenatal Care; Prevalence; Prognosis; Risk Factors; Steroids; Tocolysis; Treatment Outcome; Vitamin K

Fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamins A, D and E, play an important role in the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism, and may affect infant birth weight. Evidence on the association of birthweight with fat-soluble vitamins is controversial. Therefore, this study aims is to determine the associations of birthweight with vitamin A, D, and E concentrations in cord blood.. A total of 199 mother-infant pairs were enrolled in the study. According to gestational age and birth weight, the mother-infant pairs were divided into small for gestational age (SGA), appropriate for gestational age (AGA), and large for gestational age (LGA). The Vitamin A, D, and E concentrations in serum were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry.. The concentrations of vitamin A in the SGA group were significantly lower than those in the AGA and LGA groups. The concentrations of vitamin E in the SGA group were significantly higher than those in the AGA and LGA groups. However, no significant differences were observed in vitamin D among the three groups. Being male (β = 0.317, p < 0.001) and birth weight (β = 0.229, p = 0.014) were positively correlated with the levels of vitamin A. Birth weight (β = -0.213, p= 0.026) was correlated with lower levels of vitamin E. No correlation was found between influencing Factors and the levels of vitamin D (p> 0.05). After adjusting for gestational age, sex, mother's age, delivery mode, pre-pregnancy BMI, and weight gain during pregnancy, the levels of cord blood vitamin A were positively correlated with birth weight (p=0.012).. The infant's birth weight is associated with the levels of cord blood vitamins A and E. The dysregulation of vitamins A and E in infants may be a risk factor for fetal growth and future metabolic diseases.

Topics: Birth Weight; Female; Fetal Blood; Fetal Growth Retardation; Humans; Infant; Male; Pregnancy; Vitamin A; Vitamin D; Vitamin E; Vitamin K; Vitamins

This study was undertaken to evaluate the risks and pregnancy outcome in women with prosthetic heart valves on different anticoagulent regimens.. A retrospective chart review of 82 pregnancies in 33 women with mechanical valve prostheses at a tertiary referral center from 1987 to 2002. The main outcome measures were major maternal complications and perinatal outcome.. The valve replaced was mitral (60.6%), aortic (18.2%), and both (21.2%). Fifty-four pregnancies (65.9%) resulted in live births, 9 (11.0%) had stillbirths (all on warfarin), and 12 (14.6%) had spontaneous and 7 (8.5%) therapeutic abortions (all on warfarin). The rate of spontaneous abortion was highest in women on warfarin throughout pregnancy (P < .01). The live birth rate was higher in women on heparin compared with those on warfarin (P < .01), and in those on heparin/warfarin compared with warfarin alone (P < .01). There were no maternal deaths; however, 3 patients had mitral valve thrombosis (2 on heparin and 1 on warfarin) necessitating surgery in 1 patient and medical thrombolysis in 2 patients. Hemorrhagic complications occurred in 5 patients, 4 of whom required transfusion.. No single anticoagulant regimen confers complete protection from thromboembolic phenomena in pregnancy. Despite a high maternal morbidity rate, the perinatal outcome is acceptable when pregnancy progresses beyond the first trimester.

Topics: Abortion, Spontaneous; Abortion, Therapeutic; Birth Weight; Delivery, Obstetric; Female; Fetal Death; Fetal Growth Retardation; Gestational Age; Heart Valve Prosthesis; Heparin; Humans; Mitral Valve; Obstetric Labor, Premature; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications; Pregnancy Outcome; Retrospective Studies; Thrombosis; Vitamin K; Warfarin