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Biomedical subjects

A Mhaskar

Publications and source records attributed to A Mhaskar.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Low maternal vitamin B12 status is associated with intrauterine growth retardation in urban South Indians.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the maternal sociodemographic, anthropometric, dietary and micronutrient status in apparently healthy pregnant women in order to determine their associations with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Bangalore City, India. SUBJECTS: A total of 478 women were recruited at 12.9+/-3.3 weeks of gestation and followed up at the first, second and third trimesters of pregnancy and at delivery. The dropout rate was 8.5%. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Birth weight was measured at hospital delivery. RESULTS: The mean birth weight was 2.85+/-0.45 kg. In all, 28.6% of newborns were IUGR. There was a strong inverse relationship between maternal educational level and risk of IUGR. A low body weight at baseline was also associated with a high risk of IUGR. Compared with women in the highest quartile for second trimester weight gain, those in the lowest quartile had a significantly higher adjusted odds ratio (AOR: 3.98; 95% CI: 1.83, 8.65) for IUGR. Women in the lowest tertile for serum vitamin B(12) concentration during each of the three trimesters of pregnancy had significantly higher risk of IUGR (AOR: 5.98, 9.28 and 2.81 for trimesters 1-3, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrates associations between educational status, maternal weight and gestational weight gain with IUGR. Importantly, in a subsample, there were strong associations of vitamin B(12) status with IUGR, suggesting that better socioeconomic conditions, improved nutritional status and early detection of vitamin B(12) deficiency in pregnancy combined with appropriate interventions are likely to play an important role in reducing IUGR.

Adolescent↗

Anthropometry and body composition of south Indian babies at birth.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the consequences on body composition of increasing birth weight in Indian babies in relation to reported values in Western babies, and to assess the relationship between maternal and neonatal anthropometry and body composition. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Bangalore City, India. SUBJECTS: A total of 712 women were recruited at 12.5+/-3.1 weeks of gestation (mean+/-standard deviation, SD) and followed up until delivery; 14.5% were lost to follow-up. Maternal body weight, height, mid upper-arm circumference and skinfold thicknesses were measured at recruitment. Weight and body composition of the baby (skinfold thicknesses, mid upper-arm circumference, derived arm fat index and arm muscle index; AFI and AMI, respectively) were measured at birth in hospital. RESULTS: The mean+/-SD birth weight of all newborns was 2.80+/-0.44 kg. Birth weight was significantly related to the triceps and subscapular skinfold thickness of the baby. In a small number of babies with large birth weight for gestational age, there was a relatively higher normalised AFI relative to AMI than for babies with lower or appropriate birth weight for gestational age. Maternal height and fat-free mass were significantly associated with the baby's length at birth. CONCLUSIONS: Skinfold thicknesses in Indian babies were similar to those reported in a Western population with comparable birth weights, and the relationship of AFI to birth weight appeared to be steeper in Indian babies. Thus, measures to increase birth weight in Indian babies should take into account possible adverse consequences on body composition. There were no significant relationships between maternal anthropometry and body composition at birth on multivariate analysis, except for sum of the baby's skinfold thicknesses and maternal fat-free mass (P<0.02).

Adolescent↗

Are we increasing serious maternal morbidity by postponing termination of pregnancy in severe pre-eclampsia/eclampsia?

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of admission--delivery interval on maternal morbidity in patients with severe pre-eclampsia/eclampsia. This was a retrospective study, which involved review of case sheets of 188 women (admitted to St John's Medical College Hospital during the year 2000--2001 with the above diagnosis). The incidence of severe pre-eclampsia and eclampsia was 5.18% (188/3,627) with 119 primigravida and 69 multigravida. The incidence of serious maternal complications in the post partum period was 17% (11/68) in the category of women who delivered within 12 hours of admission compared with 40.6% (28/69) in the 12--48-h category and 60.8% (31/51) in the>48-h category. The incidence of serious maternal complications in the subset with HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count) syndrome was 33.4% (7/21) in the 12-h. We concluded that termination of pregnancy within 12 hours of admission in severe pre-eclampsia/eclampsia especially in patients with HELLP syndrome helps to prevent avoidable serious maternal morbidity.

Abortion, Therapeutic↗

Factor XIII deficiency: a rare cause of repeated abortions.

Factor XIII deficiency is a rare cause of early abortion. The obstetrical outcome of four pregnancies in two women with factor XIII deficiency is reported. Both women were treated with substitution therapy using locally-prepared cryoprecipitate. The outcome in these two women demonstrated the need for substitution therapy in early pregnancy leading to an increased chance of obstetrical success.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗

Trophoblastic hyperthyroidism.

Hyperthyroidism can occur secondary to gestational trophoblastic disease. The clinical and biochemical data of four women who had hyperthyroidism secondary to gestational trophoblastic disease was analyzed. The parity ranged from primi to gravida four and the period of amenorrhoea from six weeks to sixteen weeks. Three women had vomiting, two had bleeding per vaginum and two had tachycardia and minimal thyromegaly. The betahCG was more than 5,00,000 mlu/ml in all the cases. Three women required treatment for the hypermetabolic status and one woman had biochemical hyperthyroidism. Two of them had molar pregnancy, one had partial mole and one had persistent trophoblastic disease.

Adult↗

Status of autoantibodies to zona pellucida in human reproduction.

The sera of 80 patients were tested by the indirect immunofluorescence technique to evaluate the presence of autoantibodies to zona pellucida in human reproduction. The incidence of positive anti-zona activity was 71.4% (25/35) in the infertile women, 40.0% (6/15) in the normal, nonpregnant fertile women, 20.0% (3/15) in the normal pregnant women and 26.7% (4/15) in the normal fertile men, when unabsorbed sera were tested. To overcome false positive reactions due to nonspecific serum components, all the positive sera were absorbed with formalinized porcine red blood cells and retested. However, after absorption, anti-zona activity was lost in all the positive sera from non-pregnant fertile women, pregnant women and fertile men; but it was retained in 51.4% (18/35) of the infertile women. These positive sera (18) were further absorbed with zona-coated eggs and retested. Fluorescence was lost in all the positive sera, thus demonstrating the presence of antibodies specific to zona antigen in the infertile women. The study also revealed that autoantibodies to zona were seen more often in patients of greater age (26 to 40 years) and in those who had been infertile for a greater period of time (greater than 6 years).

Adolescent↗

Autoantibodies to zona pellucida in tubectomized women.

khe study was conducted to detect autoantibodies to zona pellucida by indirect immunofluorescence technique. A total of 60 human sera was examined, which included 15 tubectomized , 15 pregnant, 15 nonpregnant fertile women, and 15 fertile men. In the unabsorbed sera, anti-zona activity was observed in 53.3% of the tubectomized women and in 40.0% of the nonpregnant fertile women, 20.0% of the pregnant women and 26.7% of the fertile men. All the positive sera were then absorbed with porcine red blood cells and retested to exclude the false positive reaction due to nonspecific serum components. After absorption, immunological response was retained in 26.7% of the tubectomized women and lost in all the other women and men. The positive sera were further absorbed with zona-coated eggs and were retested. Fluorescence was lost in all the positive sera. This observation demonstrates the presence of antibodies, specific to zona antigens, in tubectomized women. To date, however, antibodies to zona antigen have not been demonstrated in the tubectomized women. Presence of anti-zona activity in tubectomized women may be an autoimmune response, possibly due to absorption and degradation of the ova into the peritoneal cavity or in the reproductive tract and the subsequent exposure of the degradation products to the immune system.

Autoantibodies↗