Obstetrics and Gynecology Commons^™

Biomarkers For Placental Abnormality, Cathal Mccarthy

Doctoral

Obstetrical complications including recurrent miscarriage, pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) affect 1%-5% of pregnant women (Younis and Samueloff 2003). Dysfunctional trophoblasts, impaired development of spiral arteries, imbalance in systems controlling the dilation and contraction of spiral arteries, placental fibrin clots and intervillous thrombosis are all possible factors that can result in an insufficient placental circulation. The combination of the hypercoagulable state of pregnancy and presence of genetic thrombophilic markets has the potential to induce placental thrombosis and cause placental insufficiency with subsequent obstetrical complications. The initial part of the research work involved examining the relationship between four common genetic …

Telomerase Activity In Human Preimplantation Embryos, Diane Lynne Wright

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein, has been described as an essential component of highly proliferative cells, which stabilizes the telomeres and avoids cellular senescence. Telomerase has been identified in various embryonic cell stages, hematopoietic cells, and in >85% of tumor tissue biopsies analyzed. The ability to measure the potential to proliferate successfully could provide an objective measure of an embryo's quality. The objectives of this study were to modify the telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) assay system for increased sensitivity to allow detection of telomerase activity in the single cell of an oocyte and embryo, obtain telomerase activity levels for the oocyte …

Immunologic Evaluation Of Ectopic Gestation, Tawfig Amin Nasser

Health Services Research Dissertations

Ectopic gestation is an error in the implantation site of the blastocyst. Extrauterine implantation presents a unique environment since the protective features of the uterus are absent. This study is an investigation into the immunoregulatory differences that may develop as a result of a change in the feto-maternal junction.

The effects of female plasma on one-way mixed lymphocyte cultures and mitogen-stimulated cultures, anti-paternal lymphocytotoxicity, and lymphocyte phenotypes were determined on normal, ectopic and non-pregnant females. The results indicated that pregnant female plasma enhanced the response of autologous lymphocytes to spouse and male control lymphocytes. Enhancement was not seen in the …

Body Weight Changes Throughout The Menstrual Cycle And Their Effect Upon The Components Of Body Composition, Lovina M. Query

Dissertations and Theses

Research has shown that women experience fluctuations in body weight (BW) due to water retention and/or other processes at various times in the menstrual cycle. The purpose of this study is to measure women repeatedly throughout the course of one menstrual cycle and

(1) to confirm whether significant fluctuations in weight occur at various times and

(2) to determine whether there are significant differences in the components of body composition by hydrostatic weighing which are related to any changes in BW.

It was concluded that while significant fluctuations in BW occur at certain times in the menstrual cycle, the changes …

The Zinc Status Of Pregnant Vegetarian Women, Michelle J. Abu-Assal

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The zinc status of twelve lacto-ovo-vegetariah pregnant women and seventeen non-vegetarian pregnant women was evaluated. Zinc intakes were calculated from three-day dietary records and twenty-four hour dietary histories. Plasma zinc levels were drawn during the last trimester of pregnancy and approximately ten weeks postpartum. Gestational age at birth, birthweight, and APGAR scores of the infants born were obtained from the medical charts. Dietary zinc intakes for the vegetarians (10.5 ± 4.0 mg) did not differ significantly from the intakes of the non-vegetarians (10.9 ± 3.0 mg). The vegetarian last trimester plasma zinc levels (47.9 ± 12.4 mcg/dl) and postpartum plasma …