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Introduction: Ultrasound elastography is a technique used to quantify biomechanical changes that occur in parenchymal tissue with disease. Recent research has applied the technique to the placenta in order to investigate changes associated with uteroplacental dysfunction. We performed a literature review to summarise the current available information regarding this novel technique. Methods: Pubmed, CINAHL and Embase were searched using the terms “placenta”, “ultrasound” and “elastography”. Only full text studies written in English and limited to placental sonoelastography were included. Results: Twenty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. Publications were divided into in vivo and ex vivo groups, and further categorised into four subgroups: normal pregnancy, pregnancy-induced hypertension and pre-eclampsia, fetal growth restriction and other pregnancy complications. Conclusion: Ultrasound elastography can quantitatively assess biomechanical properties of the placenta in conditions where placental function is compromised.

Outside of pregnancy excessive salt consumption is known to be harmful being linked to increased blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. However, pregnancy represents a major change to a woman's physiology resulting in an intimate adaptation to environmental conditions. It is now becoming apparent that salt is essential for a number of these changes during pregnancy including haematological, cardiac adaptations as well as directly influencing placental development and the uteroplacental immune environment. The present review discusses the important role that salt has during normal pregnancy and evidence will also be presented to show how the placenta may act as a salt sensing organ temporarily, yet substantially regulating maternal blood pressure., Highlights • The placenta may function as an extrarenal regulator of maternal blood pressure. • Na+handling in pregnancy is completely different to the non-pregnant situation. • Na+may actually lower blood pressure in pregnancy affected with pre-eclampsia. • Aldosterone is an important regulator of placental and fetal development. • Na+ may compensate for aldosterone deficiency in pregnancy.

Introduction: Autophagy has not been studied extensively in the human placenta. This study was performed to determine whether autophagy is increased in the placentas of women with hypertensive disorders in pregnancy compared to normotensive pregnancies. Methods: LC3-II and p62 protein expression were examined by quantitative Western blotting analysis in 40 placentas from women not experiencing labor pains. The 40 placentas were from 13, 8, and 19 women with preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, and normal pregnancy, respectively. Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy included preeclampsia and gestational hypertension. Results: LC3-II expression was significantly increased, while that of p62 was significantly reduced in 21 placentas of women with hypertensive disorders compared to those with normal blood pressure irrespective of the presence or absence of fetal growth restriction (FGR). LC3-II expression was also significantly increased in 13 placentas of women with preeclampsia irrespective of the presence or absence of FGR. Discussion: The results of this study suggested that autophagy is active in the placenta of hypertensive disorders even in the absence of FGR. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION: Preeclampsia affects about 3% of pregnancies and the placenta is believed to play a major role in its pathophysiology. Lately, the role of the placenta has been hypothesised to be mor ...

Pregnancy is a physiological challenge that may require additional nutritional support. Suboptimal micronutrient intakes and micronutrient deficiencies during pregnancy are a global problem, often leading to poor maternal and child outcomes. Micronutrient supplementation is commonly recommended during pregnancy to support and enhance maternal metabolism. Recent studies suggest that the use of multiple micronutrient supplements may be of benefit during a normal pregnancy and may significantly reduce the risk of preeclampsia, preterm delivery, gestational diabetes, and improve pregnancy outcomes. Given the crucial role that the placenta plays in mediating pregnancy outcomes, it is important to consider the impact of micronutrient supplementation on the mechanisms associated with placental function, as well as maternal and fetal homeostasis. This review will consider the role of key micronutrients in supporting pregnancy and the possible mechanisms by which multiple micronutrients influence placental function and modulate placental oxidative stress and inflammation.

Trophoblast deportation was first described before the turn of the 20th Century by the German Scientist Schmorl and is now considered a normal physiological process during human pregnancy. Increased shedding and deportation of placental trophoblast is well documented in preeclampsia, one of the most common diseases of pregnancy. This review summarises the seminal historical and contemporary publications that have contributed to our knowledge of trophoblast deportation to the maternal lungs, their presence and quantity in the maternal circulation during normal pregnancy and during preeclampsia, and the range of morphologies deported trophoblasts display. Finally, the contentious nature of the deported multinucleated trophoblasts' current nomenclature (syncytial knots vs. sprouts) is considered.

This study includes 75 females with normal pregnancies, and presents individual cases of longitudinal series of human placental lactogen (hPL). Samples for hPL levels are taken during the period from gestational week 26 and until labour. A modified Gompertz equation is defined, characterized as growth at a continuously decreasing exponential rate, which finally plateaus in gestational week 36. This modified Gompertz equation adequately fitted individual hPL series. The work describes that a final hPL forecast for the normal pregnancy could be obtained in gestational week 30 using knowledge on maternal height and age, combined with a single hPL sample. The present model was applied in six pathological pregnancies with intrauterine growth retardation, and in all cases measured hPL levels were below the model estimate.

To assess the possible role of placental growth hormone (GH) in fetoplacental growth, we measured placental and pituitary GH (GHN) in maternal plasma by means of two RIA using two MAb (5B4 recognizing both placental GH and GHN, and K24 recognizing only GHN) during pregnancy. IGF-I also was measured by RIA in the same samples after extraction. A transverse study of 186 samples obtained between 8 wk of amenorrhea (WA) and term confirmed the reported rise in GH immunoreactivity with 5B4 after 24 to 25 WA from 12.3 +/- 2.0 mU/L (mean +/- SEM) to a plateau of 27.5 +/- 3.4 mU/L at 34 to 35 WA together with the decrease in GHN to undetectable levels by 24 to 25 WA. IGF-I levels increased from 164.0 +/- 44.6 micrograms/L at 24 to 25 WA to 331.6 +/- 63.6 micrograms/L at term. A longitudinal study of 31 normal pregnant women confirmed this hormonal pattern and the reported placental GH plateau after 35 WA. A drastic decrease in placental GH was observed with the onset of labor (from 26.9 +/- 2.1 to 2.7 +/- 1.1 mU/L), whereas the decrease in IGF-I was not significant (from 212.9 +/- 26.5 to 162.4 +/- 16.9 micrograms/L).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Summary The mural thickness of fetal stem arteries of 3rd order was assessed morphometrically in 50 placentae from each of the ‘toxaemia’, normal pregnancy and acute fetal distress groups. Several clinical maternal and fetal variables and the syncytial sprout proliferation of the placentae were correlated with the morphometric findings. The results show that: (1) there was a significant reduction in the ratio of lumen-to-whole-diameter of the fetal arteries in ‘toxaemia’ as compared with the two other groups; (2) the mean lumen-to-whole-diameter ratio also differed between regions of the placenta in all groups, the most marked reduction being in the parachorial region and the least prominent in the parabasal zone; (3) no significant differences in the mean diameter ratio were found among the three sub-groups of the toxaemic pregnancies, i.e., the pre-eclampsia, essential hypertension and renal disease group; and (4) there was an inverse relationship between the lumen-to-whole-diameter ratios and the syncytial sprout counts in the toxaemic group.