Placenta News and Research

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UTMB researchers unlock clues to understand signals that trigger labor and delivery process

In a normal full-term pregnancy, signals from the mature organs of the fetus and the aging placental membranes and placenta prompt the uterus' muscular walls to begin the labor and delivery process. It's still unclear how these signals accomplish this goal or how they reach from the fetal side to the maternal side.

3 Aug 2016

Naturally occurring estrogen in cow’s milk does not affect blood hormone levels, study shows

Estrogen occurs naturally in cow's milk. Recently, there has been concern that consuming milk containing elevated amounts of estrogen could affect blood levels of the hormone in humans, leading to an increased risk of some cancers.

3 Aug 2016

Maternal placental syndromes increase short-term risk of developing cardiovascular disease

The short-term risk of developing cardiovascular disease following a first pregnancy is higher for women experiencing placental syndromes and a preterm birth or an infant born smaller than the usual size, a University of South Florida study reports.

27 Jul 2016

Researchers develop first placenta-on-a-chip to model interface between mother and fetus

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed the first placenta-on-a-chip that can fully model the transport of nutrients across the placental barrier.

26 Jul 2016

Researchers discover how Zika virus travels from pregnant mother to fetus

Zika virus can infect numerous cell types in the human placenta and amniotic sac, according to researchers at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley who show in a new paper how the virus travels from a pregnant woman to her fetus. They also identify a drug that may be able to block it.

19 Jul 2016

Salk scientists propose new molecular criteria for generating naïve stem cells

Salk scientists and colleagues have proposed new molecular criteria for judging just how close any line of laboratory-generated stem cells comes to mimicking embryonic cells seen in the very earliest stages of human development, known as naïve stem cells.

17 Jul 2016

Boy babies more likely to experience complications at birth than girls

New research led by the University of Adelaide has confirmed that boy babies are much more likely to experience potentially life-threatening outcomes at birth than girls.

11 Jul 2016

Researchers identify set of genes that play vital role in early human development

Oxford University researchers are closer to solving a decade-old mystery after discovering that a set of genes they are studying play a key role in early human development.

29 Jun 2016

Researchers find new way for treating GBS infection in neonates

Researchers have discovered how the bacteria Group B streptococcus (GBS) avoids detection by the immune system during pregnancy.

28 Jun 2016

Pre-existing dengue antibodies can intensify Zika virus infection

Previous exposure to the dengue virus may increase the potency of Zika infection, according to research from Imperial College London.

23 Jun 2016

Scientists aim to explore how gestational diabetes can put babies at lifelong risk for cardiovascular disease

Gestational diabetes can put babies at a lifelong risk for cardiovascular disease, and scientists want to better understand how.

21 Jun 2016

Study finds link between pontosubicular necrosis and placental pathology

Pediatric and Developmental Pathology – A stillbirth occurs when a baby is born without any signs of life. Placental pathology is found to be related to the cause of death in a significant number of pregnancies that result in stillbirth

20 Jun 2016

Alabama physician recommends childbearing-age women to take precautions against Zika virus

As concerns about the Zika virus rise among women of childbearing age in the United States, Joseph Biggio, M.D., director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, wants those who are pregnant or trying to conceive to take precautions.

6 Jun 2016

Lower quantities of CD74 protein in placentas of preeclamptic women can impact fetal development

Preeclampsia is one of the most common complications to occur during pregnancy, yet its causes are still unknown. A new study involving patients, cell cultures and animal experiments has now shown that those affected by the disease have lower quantities of the placenta's immune protein CD74, and that certain inflammatory factors are higher. These factors disrupt the formation of the placenta and leave the fetus undernourished.

3 Jun 2016

Prenatal mild viral assault may cause central nervous system malfunctions in children

Babies born to mothers whose immune systems had to grapple with a viral assault -- even a mild one -- have increased risk of brain and central nervous system abnormalities, according to a new study.

2 Jun 2016

New urine-based diagnostic method may help detect preeclampsia in pregnant women

A team of scientists from the Federal State Budget Institution "Research Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology", Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the Emanuel Institute for Biochemical Physics, and the Talrose Institute for Energy Problems of Chemical Physics have developed an approach for a method of non-invasive testing for pregnant women with a serious and complex condition called preeclampsia.

1 Jun 2016

Scientists discover how Zika virus replicates in the placenta

Zika virus can infect and replicate in immune cells from the placenta, without killing them, scientists have discovered. The finding may explain how the virus can pass through the placenta of a pregnant woman, on its way to infect developing brain cells in her fetus.

28 May 2016

Study links low- and high-birthweight babies to increased cardiovascular disease risk

For reasons that remain unclear at least in the smaller babies, both birthweight extremes appear to increase the likelihood of early development of dangerous fat around major organs in the abdomen that significantly increases these risks, said Dr. Brian Stansfield, neonatologist at the Children's Hospital of Georgia and the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

24 May 2016

Bioprinted 3-D placenta model could help better understand preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication involving the placenta that can be serious -- even fatal -- for the mother or fetus. The only effective treatment option is premature delivery.

19 May 2016

Pluristem completes enrollment in Phase II intermittent claudication trial

Pluristem Therapeutics Inc., a leading developer of placenta-based cell therapy products, today announced it has completed the planned enrollment of 150 patients in a global Phase II trial of its PLacental eXpanded (PLX)-PAD cells for the treatment of intermittent claudication (IC), a peripheral artery disease (PAD). The double blind, randomized, placebo controlled trial enrolled 50 patients since October 2015 in the U.S., Germany, Israel, and South Korea.

16 May 2016