Other highlights in the October 20 JNCI
... of ALL and AML in children is likely to begin in utero , but few risk factors have been identified. Using data from health registers in Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, Lisa Lyngsie Hjalgrim, M.D., of the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues conducted a casecontrol study of ...JCI table of contents, April 1, 2005
... Infant acute leukemia is often associated with in utero events that cause chromosomal abnormalities involving the mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL) gene. However little is known regarding how these events lead to leukemia. In a study appearing online on March 10 in advance of publication in the April 1 print ...Childhood asthma may be linked to grandmother's smoking
...re we need to know about the harmful effects of in utero exposure to tobacco products," said Paul A. Kvale, MD, FCCP, President of the American College of Chest Physicians. "They also demonstrate how important smoking cessation is for both the person smoking and their family members."...The effects of prenatal cocaine exposure
...he exciting novel finding that cocaine exposure in utero has lasting and lifelong adverse effects on the heart in adulthood, particularly if you are male! Professor Zhang's research group has been studying the effect of adverse intrauterine environment on fetal heart development and its lifelong pathophysi...Lack of coherent cloning policies reflects polarized debate, limited understanding, study says
...Studies have shown that many cloned animals die in utero or soon after birth, or survive with severe birth defects. In fact, few cloning attempts are successful. Abnormalities are wide-ranging and can include heart, liver, kidney, immune system, and brain defects. Using a nucleus from an adult cell require...Harmful chemicals may reprogram gene response to estrogen
... scientists indicates that women exposed to DES in utero have a higher risk of uterine fibroids. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a component of the National Institutes of Health, provided funding to researchers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for the two-year...Maternal alcohol use increases the risk of newborn infections
... entire developing fetus is exposed to alcohol in utero , other organ systems, including the immune system and the lungs, are similarly exposed to alcohol but the risks to these systems have not been similarly identified. Therefore, we investigated the risk of infection using an existing database which i...Rare eye-movement disorder may shed light on brain and cardiovascular development
...elopment of the higher brain." Interestingly, in utero exposure to thalidomide very early in pregnancy, during the time when HOXA1 is turned on, causes damage in the brainstem that mimics the HOXA1 syndrome. In addition, a previous autopsy of an autistic individual showed brainstem pathology similar to t...Cells from amniotic fluid used to tissue-engineer a new trachea
...ide enough fetal cells to repair a malformation in utero or after birth potentially, even years later, Fauza says. He envisions a future in which amniotic fluid is banked for everyone's use. "Fetal cells are the best cells you can have for tissue engineering," he says. "They grow very well, and they're v...New study finds malaria could play key role in mother-to-child transmission of HIV in pregnancy
...ortant role in mother-to-child HIV transmission in utero that has been underestimated so far," said Anfumbo...vestigating a possible link between malaria and in utero HIV infections since a study conducted in Yaound, Cameroon found that MTCTs peaked three months afte...Salty taste preference linked to birth weight
...ip suggests that developmental events occurring in utero may have a lasting influence on an individual's preference for salty taste." A similar relationship was found in a subset of the same children at preschool age, suggesting that the relationship between salty taste preference and birth weight persists...Cloned stem cells prove identical to fertilized stem cells
... genetic abnormality. Most clones, in fact, die in utero or at birth. The few clones that make it into adulthood are often plagued by bizarre health complications. This is one reason why scientists generally believe that attempting to clone a human being is morally reprehensible. But are the cloned embryo...Prenatal pesticide exposure and high blood pressure and a decreased ability to copy shapes
... different outcomes. Effects caused by exposure in utero may last into childhood. "These results suggest that more attention should be paid to protecting the developing brain and that we should seriously consider adopting and enforcing a greater margin of safety in protecting both fetuses and children from...Changes to in utero environment may alter onset of cancer, U of T study
Manipulating the in utero environment may alter the onset of cancers that ap...d diet. "Increased levels of vitamin E reduced in utero deaths among the offspring from 40 per cent in the control groups to five per cent in the test group...Prenatal genistein in soy reduces obesity in offspring
... as adults. Mice that did not receive genistein in utero were much heavier as adults double the weight of ...to adulthood, providing the first evidence that in utero dietary genistein alters epigenetic gene regulation, coat color, and susceptibility to adult obesity...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
... RNA interference delivered by electroporation in utero . Transfections were timed to embryonic day 15.5 so that most transfected cells were destined to become layer 2/3 neurons. Without MDGA1, layer 2/3 neurons were trapped in the intermediate zone or deep in the cortical plate (CP) rather than migrating...Neurons find their place in the developing nervous system with the help of a sticky molecule
... gene. To do this, they painstakingly performed in utero surgery on embryonic mice injecting an interfering RNA molecule into the lateral ventricle, a fluid-filled space next to the neocortex. Application of an electrical current forced the RNA into neural progenitor cells, and it was subsequently inherit...Children's Hospital Boston presents at the 2006 Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting
...g studies find that children exposed to cocaine in utero had significantly lower brain volumes and significantly less cortical gray matter. Children exposed to cigarettes and alcohol prenatally had a similar pattern. The study, led by Children's Hospital Boston neurologist Dr. Michael Rivkin, involved 35 c...DDT in mothers linked to developmental delays in children, UC Berkeley study finds
...ty of California, Berkeley, has found that such in utero exposure is associated with developmental delays i...o decrease was found at six months. The highest in utero DDT exposures in children were associated with a seven- to 10-point decrease in Bayley mental scores...Researchers link specific antibody presence to prevention of mother-to-baby HIV transmission
...hy some HIV-positive mothers transmit the virus in utero to their babies while others don't, researchers from the UCLA AIDS Institute and Los Alamos National Laboratory studied 38 infant-mother pairs in the UCLA arm of the Los Angeles Pediatric AIDS Consortium. They studied the role of maternal autologous ...