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Placenta imaging method has potential to diagnose complications in early pregnancy

A new imaging technique to track maternal blood flow to the placenta has the potential to help diagnose several common complications in early pregnancy, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

7 Nov 2019

Mosaicism of IVF embryos does not pose any health risks to future babies

Compared to the mother's body, the egg fertilized in a test tube has rather different conditions for growing.

5 Nov 2019

UVA research sheds light on why infant seizures have lifelong effects

A doctor at University of Virginia Children's is using an elegant new approach to mapping brain activity to shed light on what happens during seizures in newborns that can lead to behavioral issues and learning disabilities much later.

30 Oct 2019

Dynamic molecular signaling waves control embryonic fates

Timing is everything for young cells waiting to determine their identities.

29 Oct 2019

Gut microbiome is a reality in fetal life also

A study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation shows that in both mice and humans, the fetal gut has its own microbiome, which is probably derived straight from the maternal organism.

24 Oct 2019

Higher levels of chemicals in mothers' system during pregnancy linked to lower IQ in children

Exposure during the first trimester of pregnancy to mixtures of suspected endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in consumer products is related to lower IQ in children by age 7, according to a study by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Karlstad University, Sweden, published in Environment International in October.

24 Oct 2019

Acetate derived from alcohol metabolism directly influences epigenetic regulation in the brain

Triggers in everyday life such as running into a former drinking buddy, walking by a once-familiar bar, and attending social gatherings can all cause recovering alcoholics to "fall off the wagon."

24 Oct 2019

Rutgers professor discusses children’s vulnerabilities to pesticides and how to reduce exposure

Studies show that exposure to pesticides – specifically those containing chlorpyrifos, which attack an insect's nervous system – can harm a child's physical and mental development.

23 Oct 2019

Autism spectrum disorder could be triggered by low placental steroid levels

A recent experimental study has shown that one reason for the occurrence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) could be the deficit of a placental steroid hormone called allopregnanolone. The reason is that this hormone plays a critical role in the normal development of the brain in fetal life.

21 Oct 2019

Insufficient placental steroid may increase autism spectrum disorder risk

A study in experimental models suggests that allopregnanolone, one of many hormones produced by the placenta during pregnancy, is so essential to normal fetal brain development that when provision of that hormone decreases or stops abruptly - as occurs with premature birth - offspring are more likely to develop autism-like behaviors.

20 Oct 2019

Children exposed to smokeless tobacco in fetal life more likely to have higher blood pressure

Five to six year old children had higher systolic blood pressure if their mothers used snus, a moist, powdered smokeless tobacco that contains nicotine, while pregnant compared to children of mothers who did not use snus, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the open access journal of the American Heart Association.

16 Oct 2019

Koalas protect their germline cells against retroviral attack

In a new study published in the journal Cell, scientists have found that koala DNA is protected against attack by retroviruses by a special type of immune response, which distinguishes foreign DNA from the host genome and destroys it before it can proliferate. This finding could help us understand both how koalas survive these infections, and the mechanics of adaptive gene change.

15 Oct 2019

Environmental estrogen burdens babies in mothers' wombs

Xenoestrogens are absorbed through the environment, especially through food. As oestrogen-like substances, they can have a profound effect on the body's hormonal balance.

10 Oct 2019

Fetal gut has more well-developed immune capabilities than previously thought

Most biology textbooks explain that the fetal immune system is largely undeveloped and that it learns after being exposed to the world at birth. New research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh challenges that paradigm, and provides the first comprehensive look at the immune system of the developing gut.

10 Oct 2019

Researchers show how food estrogen migrates through the placenta

The human fetus is considered to be particularly sensitive to environmental contaminants. A team led by Benedikt Warth from the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna and Tina Bürki from the Swiss Materials Science and Technology Institute, Empa, has now been able to demonstrate for the first time how the widespread food estrogen zearalenone behaves in the womb.

10 Oct 2019

'Special occasion drinking' during pregnancy can be harmful to offspring, rat study suggests

If you thought a glass or two of alcohol on special occasions was safe during pregnancy, think again. Research in The Journal of Physiology shows even small amounts of alcohol consumed during pregnancy can cause insulin-resistance, which increases the likelihood of diabetes, in male rat offspring.

9 Oct 2019

Dutch researchers to develop artificial womb prototypes

The Eindhoven University of Technology has been awarded a research grant of €2.9 million for researchers to develop artificial womb prototypes.

9 Oct 2019

Congenital syphilis continues to rise at an alarming rate

One of the nation's most preventable diseases is killing newborns in ever-increasing numbers.

8 Oct 2019

Study receives NCI grant to explore better treatment for brain tumors in children

Children with recurrent brain tumors or newly diagnosed, particularly aggressive tumors called diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas are being enrolled in the first study to examine the efficacy of a drug that inhibits an enzyme these tumors use to protect themselves from the child's natural immune response.

8 Oct 2019

Chronic inflammation of the placenta linked to African-American preterm births

African-American infants are twice as likely to die in the first year of life than white infants, for reasons that are complex and not well understood. Results from a recent study suggest that specific abnormalities in the placenta from African-American preterm births may hold clues to the physical mechanisms behind racial disparities in preemie health outcomes.

3 Oct 2019