Alarmin high mobility group box-1 in maternal serum as a potential biomarker of chorioamnionitis-associated preterm birth.

Chorioamnionitis is associated with an increased risk of spontaneous preterm birth. The aim of this study was to investigate the serum levels of high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) in pregnancies with histological chorioamnionitis (HCA)-associated preterm labor (PTL) with intact membranes or preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), and to access the role of serum HMGB1 in HCA and HCA-associated PTL. A total of 190 pregnant women were enrolled in this study: PLT patients with (n = 28) or without HCA (n = 36), PPROM patients with (n = 26) or without HCA (n = 65), and non-HCA PTL controls (n = 35). Maternal serum levels of HMGB1 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum HMGB1 levels were significantly higher in PTL or PPROM patients than in control group (p < 0.01, respectively). The PPROM patients also exhibited higher serum HMGB1 levels compared to PTL patients (p = 0.015). HCA patients were characterized by significantly increased levels of serum HMGB1 when compared with non-HCA patients (p < 0.01). Therefore, maternal serum HMGB1 may become a potential biomarker of HCA and HCA-associated PTL.

Enhanced Circularly Polarized Luminescence Activity in Chiral Platinum(II) Complexes With Bis- or Triphenylphosphine Ligands.

Distinct circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) activity was observed in chiral (C∧N∧N)Pt(II) [(C∧N∧N) = 4,5-pinene-6'-phenyl-2,2'-bipyridine] complexes with bis- or triphenylphosphine ligands. Compared to the pseudo-square-planar geometry of chiral (C∧N∧N)Pt(II) complexes with chloride, phenylacetylene (PPV) and 2,6-dimethylphenyl isocyanide (Dmpi) ligands, the coordination configuration around the Pt(II) nucleus of chiral (C∧N∧N)Pt(II) complexes with bulk phosphine ligands is far more distorted. The geometry is straightforwardly confirmed by X-ray crystallography. The phosphines' participation enhanced the CPL signal of Pt(II) complexes profoundly, with the dissymmetry factor (g lum) up to 10-3. The distorted structures and enhanced chiroptical signals were further confirmed by time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations.