ABSTRACT Background: Preterm infants frequently present eating difficulties in early childhood. Determinants of these difficulties are not known. Objective: We assessed the influence of neonatal and maternal characteristics on eating behaviors at 2 y of age. Design: The following 2 cohorts were compared: 234 preterm children born ,33 wk of gestational age from the POLYmorphisme ge´ne´tique, Nutrition et Comportement Alimentaire cohort and 245 term children from the Observation des...

ABSTRACT Background: Folate, choline, and betaine participate in homocysteine metabolism. It is not known whether they interact during pregnancy. Objective: The objective was to investigate how folate status affects choline, betaine, and dimethylglycine during pregnancy. Design: Fasting plasma folate, cobalamin, free choline, betaine, dimethylglycine, and total homocysteine (tHcy) were measured longitudinally at ,12, 15, 24–27, and 34 gestational weeks (GW); at labor (nonfasting);...

Excessive iron consumption during pregnancy can lead to increased oxidative stress in the maternal body, which may result in adverse pregnancy outcomes. Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) originate from a superfamily of detoxifying enzymes that play a role in reducing xenobiotic compounds and oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship among GST gene expression, maternal iron intake during pregnancy, and neonatal birth weight. The study participants were 1087...

ABSTRACT Background: Artificially sweetened (AS) and sugar-sweetened (SS) beverages are commonly consumed during pregnancy. A recent Danish study reported that daily intake of AS beverage was associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery. Objective: We examined the intake of AS and SS beverages in pregnant women in order to replicate the Danish study and examine whether AS intake is indeed associated with preterm delivery. Design: This is a prospective study of 60 761 pregnant...

Abstract BACKGROUND: Previous studies observed inverse associations of adherence to the alternate Mediterranean (aMED), Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and alternate Healthy Eating Index (aHEI) dietary patterns with risk of type 2 diabetes; however, their associations with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) risk are unknown. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess usual prepregnancy adherence to well-known dietary patterns and GDM risk. DESIGN: Our study included 21,376...

Following three decades of increases, in 2008 the nation saw the first two-year decline in the preterm birth rate on the 2010 March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card. Overall, the United States received a “D” on the report card.

Rene Warren from Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre discusses sequencing and finishing the IgH heavy chain locus on June 3, 2010 at the "Sequencing, Finishing, Analysis in the Future" meeting in Santa Fe, NM.

Dr. Shernan Holtan, Instructor in Medicine and Oncology at Mayo Clinic, discusses her November 2009 Mayo Clinic Proceedings article on the parallels between cancer and pregnancy (article available at http://tiny.cc/4u3oS), particulary in terms of immunologic modulation.