At childbirth (parturition), zinc (Zn) homeostasis in cord blood (CB) can be affected by a number of factors: Zn in maternal blood, parturition related stress as well as metallothionein (MT). Both Zn and stress are known inducers of MT which is primarily involved in Zn homeostasis. This study analyzed Zn concentration [Zn], in CB components and MT-2A transcription in CB mononuclear cells (MNC) in relation to primiparous and multiparous childbirth. [Zn] in CB (n = 47) plasma, erythrocytes, and MNCs were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (λ = 213.9 nm). The MT-2A transcription in CB-MNC was quantified using real-time PCR. Significant correlations (Pearson r) were found between: plasma-[Zn] and erythrocyte-[Zn] (p = 0.002); [Zn] and MT-2A messenger RNA (mRNA) (p = 0.000) in CB-MNC. Student's t tests showed higher levels of MT-2A mRNA and MNC-[Zn] in CB of older (≥25 years) compared to younger mothers (≤24 years) (p = 0.043 and p = 0.016, respectively). Significantly higher [Zn] was found in CB plasma (p = 0.017) and MNC (p = 0.041) of older primiparous compared to the younger primiparous and older multiparous mothers respectively. MT-2A mRNA in CB-MNC was significantly lower in CB of younger primiparous mothers compared to their older counterparts (p = 0.001). Path analysis showed that MNC-[Zn] (β = 0.83; p = 0.000) had a greater influence on MT-2A mRNA expression, compared to parity (β = -0.14; p = 0.033). Higher [Zn] in CB of primiparous mothers could be linked to higher stress during parturition, however, might be beneficial for the growth and development of the child. Together MNC-[Zn] and parity contributed ~70 % of the MT-2A transcription in CB-MNC.
Maternal and fetal blood gas values were studied in 90 selected mothers of comparable age, weight, duration of pregnancy and hematocrit values undergoing cesarean section under balanced general anesthesia in four differing clinical situations: elective with and without placental dysfunction, and emergency with and without fetal distress in apparently normal mothers. Pre-induction (Fi O2 0.21) and pre-delivery (Fi O2 0.60) maternal blood gas analysis, along with umbilical cord blood gas analysis were performed in all cases. Apgar scoring was carried out at one minute and three minutes and correlated with the blood gas values. Out of the 90 cases studied, 36 neonates (40%) showed good apgar scores of greater than seven at one minute and three minutes and correlated well with maternal blood gas values which were within normal ranges. Of the remaining 54 cases (60%) with similar mean maternal gas values the neonates showed an apgar score of less than seven in the first minute. The score improved in three minutes in 35 of them (66%), and umbilical cord blood gas values showed a low pH (umbilical vein 7.22 +/- 0.02 units, umbilical arterial 7.21 +/- 0.01 units) but satisfactory pO2 (umbilical vein 39.4 +/- 1.9 torr, umbilical arterial 2.5 +/- 1.3 torr).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The effects of cell density and growth in 10% foetal bovine serum and 10% newborn calf serum on the activity of the enzyme (Na+ + K+)-ATPase were studied in 3T3 and SV3T3 cells. The enzyme activity decreases in 3T3 cells grown in foetal bovine serum as the cells approach confluency while in those grown in newborn calf serum the enzyme activity increases. The (Na+ + K+)-ATPase activity does not change with increase in cell density in SV3T3 cells grown in foetal bovine serum while the enzyme activity in those grown in newborn calf serum increases with increase in cells density up to about 1.35 x 10(5) cells/sq. cm. and then decreases with further increase in cell number. At confluency it was found that the enzyme activity is higher in the SV3T3 as compared to the 3T3 cells when the cells were grown in 10% foetal bovine serum, whereas in those grown in 10% newborn calf serum the enzyme activity is higher in the 3T3 as compared to the SV3T3 cells.
The investigation of many hemostatic defects in newborns is restricted by the lack of normal reference values. The coagulation system of the neonate differs in many ways from that of the adult. The present study was designed to compare the concentrations of tissue factor (TF), tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) and D-dimer (DD) in the umbilical cord blood of healthy newborns and in adult plasma. TF antigen was quantified using an in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, whereas TFPI and DD levels were measured with commercial kits. The mean TF level in cord blood (mean standard deviation, 183.94 103.63 pg/ml) was significantly higher ( = 0.008) than that in adults (136.64 65.09 pg/ml). Cord blood exhibited enhanced fibrinolysis, as was reflected by a significantly higher level of DD (924.57 733.87 ng/ml, 0.001) than that in adults (45.57 17.21 ng/ml). Conversely, cord blood (30.88 10.16 ng/ml) demonstrated significantly lower ( 0.001) TFPI levels than that in adults (55.77 21.16 ng/ml). However, no significant differences of these three hemostatic markers were noted between both gender groups in newborns and adults. Our findings indicate that an active and dynamic state of hemostasis exists in cord blood, as the fluidity of cord blood remains preserved in the presence of birth injury.
Arsenic and 5 heavy metals (nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium and lead) were quantitated in surface water (n = 18) and soil/ore samples (n = 45) collected from 5 land uses (oil palm converted from forest, oil palm in peat swamp, bare land, quarry and forest) in the Selangor River basin by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Geographic information system (GIS) was used as a spatial analytical tool to classify 4 land uses (forest, agriculture/peat, urban and bare land) from a satellite image taken by Landsat 8. Source profiling of the 6 elements was conducted to identify their occurrence, their distribution and the pollution source associated with the land use. The concentrations of arsenic, cadmium and lead were also analyzed in maternal blood (n = 99) and cord blood (n = 87) specimens from 136 pregnant women collected at the University of Malaya Medical Center for elucidating maternal exposure as well as maternal-to-fetal transfer. The source profiling identified that nickel and zinc were discharged from sewage and/or industrial effluents, and that lead was discharged from mining sites. Arsenic showed a site-specific pollution in tin-tungsten deposit areas, and the pollution source could be associated with arsenopyrite. The maternal blood levels of arsenic (0.82 ± 0.61 μg/dL), cadmium (0.15 ± 0.2 μg/dL) and lead (2.6 ± 2.1 μg/dL) were not significantly high compared to their acute toxicity levels, but could have attributable risks of chronic toxicity. Those in cord blood were significantly decreased in cadmium (0.06 ± 0.07 μg/dL) and lead (0.99 ± 1.2 μg/dL) but were equivalent in arsenic (0.82 ± 1.1 μg/dL) because of the different kinetics of maternal-to-fetal transfer.
The objective of this study is to develop a simple protocol to isolate and characterise small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) from human umbilical cord-derived MSCs (hUC-MSCs). hUC-MSCs were characterised through analysis of morphology, immunophenotyping and multidifferentiation ability. SEVs were successfully isolated by ultrafiltration from the conditioned medium of hUC-MSCs. The sEVs' size distribution, intensity within a specific surface marker population were measured with zetasizer or nanoparticle tracking analysis. The expression of surface and internal markers of sEVs was also assessed by western blotting. Morphology of hUC-MSCs displayed as spindle-shaped, fibroblast-like adherent cells. Phenotypic analysis by flow cytometry revealed that hUC-MSCs expressed MSC surface marker, including CD90, CD73, CD105, CD44 and exhibited the capacity for osteogenic, adipogenic and chondrogenic differentiation. Populations of sEVs with CD9, CD63 and CD81 positive were detected with size distribution in the diameter of 63.2 to 162.5 nm. Typical sEVs biomarkers such as CD9, CD63, CD81, HSP70 and TSG101 were also detected with western blotting. Our study showed that sEVs from hUC-MSCs conditioned medium were successfully isolated and characterised. Downstream application of hUC-MSCs-sEVs will be further explored.