1
|
Adibi JJ, Zhao Y, Koistinen H, Mitchell RT, Barrett ES, Miller R, O'Connor TG, Xun X, Liang HW, Birru R, Smith M, Moog NK. Molecular pathways in placental-fetal development and disruption. Mol Cell Endocrinol 2024; 581:112075. [PMID: 37852527 PMCID: PMC10958409 DOI: 10.1016/j.mce.2023.112075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2023] [Revised: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/24/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023]
Abstract
The first trimester of pregnancy ranks high in priority when minimizing harmful exposures, given the wide-ranging types of organogenesis occurring between 4- and 12-weeks' gestation. One way to quantify potential harm to the fetus in the first trimester is to measure a corollary effect on the placenta. Placental biomarkers are widely present in maternal circulation, cord blood, and placental tissue biopsied at birth or at the time of pregnancy termination. Here we evaluate ten diverse pathways involving molecules expressed in the first trimester human placenta based on their relevance to normal fetal development and to the hypothesis of placental-fetal endocrine disruption (perturbation in development that results in abnormal endocrine function in the offspring), namely: human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), thyroid hormone regulation, peroxisome proliferator activated receptor protein gamma (PPARγ), leptin, transforming growth factor beta, epiregulin, growth differentiation factor 15, small nucleolar RNAs, serotonin, and vitamin D. Some of these are well-established as biomarkers of placental-fetal endocrine disruption, while others are not well studied and were selected based on discovery analyses of the placental transcriptome. A literature search on these biomarkers summarizes evidence of placenta-specific production and regulation of each biomarker, and their role in fetal reproductive tract, brain, and other specific domains of fetal development. In this review, we extend the theory of fetal programming to placental-fetal programming.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer J Adibi
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, USA; Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
| | - Yaqi Zhao
- St. Jude's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Hannu Koistinen
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Rod T Mitchell
- Department of Paediatric Endocrinology, Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, Edinburgh BioQuarter, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Emily S Barrett
- Environmental and Population Health Bio-Sciences, Rutgers University School of Public Health, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Richard Miller
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Thomas G O'Connor
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Xiaoshuang Xun
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Hai-Wei Liang
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Rahel Birru
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Megan Smith
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Nora K Moog
- Department of Medical Psychology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Yan X, Chen L, Peng P, Yang F, Dai L, Zhang H, Zhao F. Dual role of birnessite on the modulation of acid production and reinforcement of interspecific electron transfer in anaerobic digestion. Sci Total Environ 2024; 906:167842. [PMID: 37848138 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Revised: 09/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023]
Abstract
Achieving efficient anaerobic digestion of highly loaded substrates is one of the most challenging problems in the field of waste resourcing. Here, the addition of birnessite (2.0 g/L) to kitchen wastewater increased the acetate and final methane yields by 40.53 and 99.18 %, respectively, while reducing the yields of propionate and butyrate by 38.17 and 48.86 %, respectively. There were two main pathways for birnessite to enhance anaerobic digestion, one of which is to act as an electron acceptor, by inducing an alteration in the ratio of reduced-state coenzyme I in the microorganism, allowing the acid production process to proceed towards deeper oxidation. Another pathway enhances the interspecific electron transfer between bacteria and archaea and improves methane yield by optimizing the metabolic relationship. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) functional predictions suggest that the extracellular electron transport pathway of the microorganism is enhanced with the addition of birnessite and that its intracellular metabolic pathway is biased towards the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) generation pathway. This work demonstrated that anaerobic digestion facilitation by metallic minerals was not monolithic; that is, different properties of the minerals were employed to intensify the different stages of anaerobic digestion and obtain an amplification cascade.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xinyu Yan
- CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Science, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, Fujian, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, 100049 Beijing, China
| | - Lixiang Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Science, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, Fujian, China
| | - Pin Peng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Science, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, Fujian, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, 100049 Beijing, China
| | - Fan Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Science, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, Fujian, China
| | - Liping Dai
- CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Science, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, Fujian, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, 100049 Beijing, China
| | - Han Zhang
- Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Science, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, Fujian, China
| | - Feng Zhao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Science, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, Fujian, China.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Ma C, Jin Y, Wang Y, Xu H, Zhang J. Beyond liver cancer, more application scenarios for alpha-fetoprotein in clinical practice. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1231420. [PMID: 37781207 PMCID: PMC10540843 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1231420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a commonly used clinical biomarker. Before 1970, the two-way agar diffusion method was mainly used, and the specificity of AFP in the diagnosis of primary liver cancer was satisfactory. However, its positivity rate was not very high. The diagnostic value of AFP is changing with the evolution of detection methods. Here, we performed a literature search to identify English-language publications. The search was performed from January 2015 to April 2023 using the PubMed database and the following terms in [Titles/Abstracts]: alpha-fetoprotein, clinical practice, detection, etc. The references of retrieved articles were also screened to broaden the search. Studies referring to liver cancer and AFP detection methods were excluded. In this review, several clinical application scenarios for AFP were systematically reviewed, and its potential detection value in the future was discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chenyu Ma
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yuexinzi Jin
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yuhan Wang
- Center of Smart Laboratory and Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
| | - Huaguo Xu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Jiexin Zhang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Akay MA, Yıldız GE. Impact of gestational and parental factors and maternal intake of progesterone on the development of hypospadias: A retrospective case-control study. Taiwan J Obstet Gynecol 2021; 60:894-898. [PMID: 34507668 DOI: 10.1016/j.tjog.2021.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Impact of environmental, maternal, paternal, and fetal factors on the development of hypospadias have been questioned in association with disrupted hormonal balance. We aimed to examine the association between maternal progesterone use and the associated risk factors and hypospadias. MATERIALS AND METHODS There were 429 male children as the cases with hypospadias (n = 280, Group 1) and the controls without hypospadias (n = 149, Group 2). Those working in agriculture and industry, cleaners, and hairdressers were determined as risky occupational groups concerning the exposure of estrogenic endocrine disrupters. The association of progestin usage and the other risk factors with hypospadias were the study outcomes. RESULTS The median gestational age was significantly lower in Group 2 (p = 0.019). Prematurity was more common in Group 1 (p = 0.043). Although the median birth weight in Group 1 was significantly lower (p < 0.001), there was no significant difference between the ratios of low birth weight babies in the groups. The risky occupations were more frequently detected in Group 2 (p = 0.001). The rate and duration of progestin usage in Group 1 were significantly higher than that in Group 2 (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION Low birth weight and the use and duration of progestins during pregnancy were significantly associated with increased hypospadias risk.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mustafa Alper Akay
- Kocaeli University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Kocaeli, Turkey.
| | - Gülşen Ekingen Yıldız
- Kocaeli University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Kocaeli, Turkey.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Chen Y, Ning W, Wang H, Chen Y, Huang J, Wen L, Hu W. Effectiveness of alpha-fetoprotein variants L2 and L3 as substitutes of alpha-fetoprotein in screening for fetal Trisomy 18. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med 2021; 35:6764-6769. [PMID: 33980109 DOI: 10.1080/14767058.2021.1922380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of alpha-fetoprotein variants (AFP-L2, AFP-L3) in fetal screening for Trisomy 18 in place of alpha fetoprotein (AFP). METHODS A retrospective case-control study was conducted. Collectively, 39 pregnant women bearing Trisomy 18 fetuses and 48 pregnant women with clinically normal and healthy fetuses were included. The serum AFP-L2 and AFP-L3 concentrations were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The likelihood ratio method and Python software were used to construct the risk model with AFP, free β-hCG, AFP-L2, and AFP-L3 to predict Trisomy 18. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the optimal cutoff value, while the area under the curve (AUC) was used to assess the screening performance of AFP-L2 and AFP-L3 for fetal Trisomy 18. RESULTS Compared to values observed for the control group, AFP-L2 and AFP-L3 concentrations which were significantly higher (both p< .001) in pregnant women with Trisomy 18 fetuses were 7.95 ± 3.57 ng/mL and 2.53 ± 1.80 ng/mL, respectively. Comparisons across multiple modeling methods showed that the highest AUC of screened Trisomy 18 fetuses (0.992, 0.986, and 0.976) was yielded by AFP-L2 + AFP-L3 + free β-hCG, AFP-L2 + free β-hCG, and AFP-L3 + free β-hCG, with a sensitivity of 1.000 indicated in both instances. In different modeling methods, the order of AUC values was AFP-L2 + AFP-L3 + free β-hCG > AFP-L2 + free β-hCG > AFP-L3 + free β-hCG > AFP + free β-hCG. CONCLUSIONS AFP-L2 and AFP-L3 showed higher sensitivity and specificity as substitutes for AFP in screening Trisomy 18. These two markers indeed improved the screening efficiency and reduced the false positive rate, when compared with AFP only.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yiming Chen
- Department of Prenatal Diagnosis and Screening Center, Hangzhou Women's Hospital (Hangzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital), Hangzhou, China.,Department of the Fourth Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Wenwen Ning
- Department of the Fourth Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hao Wang
- Department of Prenatal Diagnosis and Screening Center, Hangzhou Women's Hospital (Hangzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital), Hangzhou, China
| | - Yijie Chen
- Department of the Fourth Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jianxia Huang
- Department of Obstetrics, Hangzhou Women's Hospital (Hangzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital), Hangzhou, China
| | - Li Wen
- Department of Prenatal Diagnosis and Screening Center, Hangzhou Women's Hospital (Hangzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital), Hangzhou, China
| | - Wensheng Hu
- Department of the Fourth Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.,Department of Obstetrics, Hangzhou Women's Hospital (Hangzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital), Hangzhou, China
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Adibi JJ, Layden AJ, Yin Q, Xun X, Peddada S, Birru RL. A toolkit for the application of placental-fetal molecular biomarkers in epidemiologic studies of the fetal origins of chronic disease. CURR EPIDEMIOL REP 2020; 8:20-31. [PMID: 33777648 DOI: 10.1007/s40471-020-00258-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Purpose of review In this review, we provide essential background knowledge and an analytical framework for the application of placental-fetal molecular biomarkers in fetal origins chronic disease epidemiology. The widely available and highly quantitative placental hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is used as an example. hCG is currently used for diagnosing fetal genetic disorders; yet it can and should be expanded to understanding the fetal origins of chronic diseases. We provide justification and methods to do this. Recent findings Ten papers published in the last 5 years were identified with supportive findings relevant to the application of biomarkers of hCG in epidemiologic studies on the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD). Summary There is increasing and consistent evidence that placental-fetal biomarkers may be highly informative in observational studies, as exemplified by hCG, with the correct approaches for measurement and data analysis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer J Adibi
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
| | - Alexander J Layden
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
| | - Qing Yin
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
| | - Xiaoshuang Xun
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
| | - Shyamal Peddada
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
| | - Rahel L Birru
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Chen Y, Xie Z, Wang X, Xiao Q, Lu X, Lu S, Shi Y, Lv S. A risk model of prenatal screening markers in first trimester for predicting hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. EPMA J 2020; 11:343-353. [PMID: 32849925 DOI: 10.1007/s13167-020-00212-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2020] [Accepted: 05/26/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Background We aimed to construct a risk model to assess the diagnostic value of predicting hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDPs) by screening a range of prenatal markers, including pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A), free beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (free β-hCG), and fetal nuchal translucency (NT). Method We analyzed 902 women, classified into four groups: healthy gravidas (n = 680, controls), gravidas with gestational hypertension (n = 61; GH), gravidas with preeclampsia (n = 90; PE), and gravidas with severe preeclampsia (n = 71, SPE). We then compared the multiple of median (MoM) of PAPP-A, free β-hCG, and NT. A risk model was constructed and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was used to diagnose HDPs. Results Levels of PAPP-A and free β-hCG levels in the GH, PE, and SPE groups were significantly lower than those in the control group (χ 2 = 7.522, P = 0.001; χ 2 = 17.775, P < 0.001). NT did not differ significantly when compared across all four groups (χ 2 = 1.592, P > 0.05). When the cut-off values for PAPP-A and free β-hCG were 0.795 MoM and 1.185 MoM, the corresponding sensitivities and specificities were 0.514 and 0.635, and 0.734 and 0.450, respectively. The best risk calculation featured PAPP-A, free β-hCG, and NT; this model exhibited the highest diagnostic value in the SPE group, followed by the GH group and then the PE group. Conclusion The use of prenatal screening markers during early pregnancy can identify fetal aneuploidy and can also predict HDPs. The development of innovative screening strategies for gravidas and the targeted prevention of HDPs in high-risk gravidas are essential for perinatal care and early intervention, thus creating significant opportunities for predictive and preventive personalized medicine. In our study, we found that the combination of a series of prenatal screening markers in early pregnancy is better than a single marker; our data clearly demonstrate the diagnostic value of combining PAPP-A, free β-hCG, and NT for patients with SPE.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yiming Chen
- Department of Prenatal Diagnosis and Screening Center, Hangzhou Women's Hospital (Hangzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital), No. 369, Kunpeng Road, Shangcheng District, Zhejiang, 310008 Hangzhou China
| | - Zhen Xie
- Department of Obstetrics, Hangzhou Women's Hospital (Hangzhou Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital), Zhejiang, 310008 Hangzhou China
| | - Xue Wang
- Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210000 Jiangsu China
| | - Qingxin Xiao
- Data Analysis Department, Zhejiang Biosan Biochemical Technologies Co., Ltd, Zhejiang, 310012 Hangzhou China
| | - Xiao Lu
- Data Analysis Department, Zhejiang Biosan Biochemical Technologies Co., Ltd, Zhejiang, 310012 Hangzhou China
| | - Sha Lu
- Department of Prenatal Diagnosis and Screening Center, Hangzhou Women's Hospital (Hangzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital), No. 369, Kunpeng Road, Shangcheng District, Zhejiang, 310008 Hangzhou China
| | - Yezhen Shi
- Data Analysis Department, Zhejiang Biosan Biochemical Technologies Co., Ltd, Zhejiang, 310012 Hangzhou China
| | - Shaolei Lv
- Data Analysis Department, Zhejiang Biosan Biochemical Technologies Co., Ltd, Zhejiang, 310012 Hangzhou China
| |
Collapse
|