Evaluation of Plasma Asymmetric Dimethylarginine Levels and Abdominal Aortic Intima-Media Thickness in Infants of Smoker Mothers.

OBJECTIVE: Smoking during pregnancy has harmful effects on the fetus and infant. Although some studies suggest that exposure to fetal-maternal smoking adversely affects both fetal growth and cardiovascular development, the mechanisms and biochemical consequences of smoking in pregnancy and newborns are not yet fully understood. We aimed to investigate whether maternal smoking during pregnancy causes fetal cardiovascular effect by measuring serum asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) level and abdominal aortic intima-media thickness (aIMT). STUDY DESIGN: This prospective study was conducted in newborns of smoking mothers and never-smoker control mothers during their pregnancies. The babies were evaluated echocardiographically on the first day following birth. In two-dimensional mode, abdominal aIMT measurements were performed. ADMA was measured in umbilical cord blood at birth. RESULTS: There were 25 mothers in the study group and 25 mothers in the control group. Serum ADMA levels were 0.459 ± 0.119 µmol/L in the study group and 0.374 ± 0.1127 µmol/L in the control group (p = 0.034). The aIMT value in the study group was 0.84 ± 0.026 mm and the aIMT value in the control group was 0.63 ± 0.011 mm (p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: We found that both the serum ADMA and the aIMT significantly increased in the group with newborns of smoker mothers compared with the group of the newborns of never-smoker mothers. It may also be suggested that exposure to fetal-maternal smoking adversely affects cardiovascular development. KEY POINTS: · It is a known fact that smoking during pregnancy has harmful effects on the development of the fetus and infant.. · We found that both the serum ADMA and aIMT were significantly higher in the group of infants of smoker mothers..

Effect of sex on chronic stress induced alterations in hindbrain catecholaminergic system and autonomic dysfunction resulting in gastrointestinal dysmotility.

It has been reported that the clinical symptoms of functional dyspepsia (FD) exacerbate upon stress while the gender-related factors have been incompletely understood. This study aims to investigate the role of sex in chronic heterotypic stress (CHS)-induced autonomic and gastric motor dysfunction. For CHS, the rats were exposed to the combination of different stressors for 7 consecutive days. Subsequently, electrocardiography was recorded in anesthetized rats to evaluate heart rate variability (HRV) for the determination of autonomic outflow and sympathovagal balance. Solid gastric emptying (GE) was measured in control and CHS-loaded male and female rats. The immunoreactivities of catecholaminergic cell marker tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), corticotropin releasing factor (CRF), and estrogen receptor (ER-α/ß) were evaluated in medullary and pontine brainstem sections by immunohistochemistry. Compared with the controls, CHS significantly delayed GE in males but not in females. There was no significant sex-related difference in parasympathetic indicator HF under either control or CHS conditions. Sympathetic indicator LF was significantly higher in control females compared to the males. The higher sympathetic output in females was found to be attenuated upon CHS; in contrast, the elevated sympathetic output was detected in CHS-loaded males. No sex- or stress-related effect was observed on ChAT immunoreactivity in the dorsal motor nucleus of N.vagus (DMV). In males, greater number of TH-ir cells was observed in the caudal locus coeruleus (LC), while they were more densely detected in the rostral LC of females. Regardless of sex, CHS elevated immunoreactivity of TH throughout the LC. Under basal conditions, greater number of TH-ir cells was detected in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) of females. In contrast, CHS remarkably increased the number of TH-ir cells in the RVLM of males which was found to be decreased in females. There was no sex-related alteration in TH immunoreactivity in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) of control rats, while CHS affected both sexes in a similar manner. Compared with females, CRF immunoreactivity was prominently observed in control males, while both of which were stimulated by CHS. ER-α/ß was found to be co-expressed with TH in the NTS and LC which exhibit no alteration related to either sex or stress status. These results indicate a sexual dimorphism in the catecholaminergic and the CRF system in brainstem which might be involved in the CHS-induced autonomic and visceral dysfunction occurred in males.

Evaluation of clinical, etiological and antimicrobial resistance profile of pediatric urinary tract infections in a secondary health care centre.

BACKGROUND: Urinary tract infections are common during childhood. The etiologic agents and empirical antibiotics may vary due to age and geographic area. OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to investigate the urinary tract infection pathogens, their antibiotic resistance profile and risk factors in a sample of well-child population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted in the pediatric clinics of a secondary health-care centre in a one-year period. The source of data was hospital and laboratory records. Toilet trained children and adolescents aged between 5-17 years old with positive urine culture were enrolled into the study. Microbiological studies were conducted according to international guidelines. RESULTS: During the study 3640 urine samples were analyzed and 342(9.4%) had significant growth. Gram negative enterobacteria were the most common infectious agents. Antibiotic susceptibility tests showed low cephalosporine resistance unless ESBL was positive. Multi drug resistance was remarkable. Extended beta lactamase resistance rate was 17%. Previous history of antibiotic use before the present administration was the only significant risk factor for ESBL positivity. CONCLUSION: Treating urinary tract infections may become an emerging problem soon. Unless there are risk factors, cephalosporines are good options, but if so nitrofurantoin or carbapanems should be preferred for treatment in this population.

Growth Differentiation Factor-15 Level and Tissue Doppler Echocardiography as a Tool in Identification of Cardiac Effects in the Children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the importance of growth-differentiation factor-15 level and tissue Doppler imaging in the detection of cardiomyopathy in children who have type 1 diabetes mellitus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-eight patients (11 males and 27 females) with type 1 diabetes mellitus were included in this study. The control group consisted of 40 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers. All children underwent a detailed echocardiography, which contained an m-mode, pulse Doppler and tissue Doppler imaging; and growth-differentiation factor-15 level was measured. RESULTS: In this study, there were significant differences between diastolic function parameters of the heart. The mitral isovolumic contraction time, contraction time, and isovolumic relaxation time values were different in the patients than in the controls (p<0.01, p<0.01, p<0.01, respectively). Also, the tricuspid isovolumic contraction time, contraction time, and isovolumic relaxation time values were different in the patients than in the controls (p<0.01, p=0.01, p<0.01, respectively). No statistically significant difference was found between the other M-mode parameters. Mean plasma growth-differentiation factor-15 level was significantly higher in patients than in healthy controls (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The follow-up of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus in terms of cardiomyopathy and the use of tissue Doppler imaging and growth differentiation factor-15 levels may be useful.

Ecology and genomics of an important crop wild relative as a prelude to agricultural innovation.

Domesticated species are impacted in unintended ways during domestication and breeding. Changes in the nature and intensity of selection impart genetic drift, reduce diversity, and increase the frequency of deleterious alleles. Such outcomes constrain our ability to expand the cultivation of crops into environments that differ from those under which domestication occurred. We address this need in chickpea, an important pulse legume, by harnessing the diversity of wild crop relatives. We document an extreme domestication-related genetic bottleneck and decipher the genetic history of wild populations. We provide evidence of ancestral adaptations for seed coat color crypsis, estimate the impact of environment on genetic structure and trait values, and demonstrate variation between wild and cultivated accessions for agronomic properties. A resource of genotyped, association mapping progeny functionally links the wild and cultivated gene pools and is an essential resource chickpea for improvement, while our methods inform collection of other wild crop progenitor species.