• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.79-83
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• 1973

Every month of pregnancy, vaginal smears were obtained from 42 dairy cows, and an attempt was made to correlate the cell picture with the stage of pregnancy. The results obtained in this work were summerized as follows: 1. At early pregnancy, most of the cells in the smears were the cells with normal nucleus and cytoplasm, and leucocytes. After the first month of pregnancy there was a progressive decrease in the rate of appearance of the cells with normal nucleus and cytoplasm, which dropped to the lowest value at the third month of pregnancy, thereafter, showing steady state. 2. After the first month of prgnancy the rate of appearance of the cells with karyolysis began to increase gradually, and reached a maximum at the fifth month of pregnancy, returning towards initial levels. 3. The rate of appearance of the cells with karyopyknosis was much lower at early pregnancy, but at the third month of pregnancy there was a rapid increase, thereafter, showing steady state (ranging from 20 to 50 percent). 4. The non-nucleated cornified cells, the cells with vacuolized cytoplasm, and the cells with swollen nucleus and cytoplasm were appeared much fewer or not, and significant changes were not recognized during pregnancy. 5. At early pregnancy there appeared many of leucocytes but dropped intensively at the third month of pregnancy, and, thereafter, appeared much fewer or not.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.919-928
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• 2011

The pig exhibits true epitheliochorial placentation, where the fetal membrane maintains attachment throughout pregnancy but does not invade into the maternal uterine endometrium. Accordingly, the expression and function of cell adhesion molecules are very important for embryo implantation and the establishment of pregnancy. In our recent microarray analysis, we found that activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) was expressed in the uterine endometrium during pregnancy in pigs. To better understand the roles of ALCAM in the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy, we examined ALCAM expression in the uterine endometrium during the estrous cycle and pregnancy in pigs. Real-time RT-PCR analysis showed that ALCAM was differentially expressed in the uterine endometrium during the estrous cycle and pregnancy, with the highest levels on D12 of pregnancy. ALCAM mRNA was localized to the luminal and glandular epithelial cells and to the trophectoderm of conceptuses during early pregnancy. The steroid hormones estrogen and progesterone had no effect on ALCAM expression in an endometrial explant culture study. Further, we found that ALCAM expression in the uterine endometrium from gilts with somatic cell nuclear transfer-derived embryos was not different from that in gilts with embryos from natural mating. ALCAM was expressed in a pregnancy stage- and cell type-specific manner in the uterine endometrium and conceptuses during pregnancy. These findings suggest that ALCAM may play a role in the establishment of pregnancy. Further analysis of ALCAM will provide insight into the implantation process and establishment of pregnancy in pigs.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2007

An aim of this study was to evaluate an effect of misinterpretation of pregnancy related cellular changes on the postpartum regression rate of abnormal cervical smears in pregnancy. A series of 265 cases with abnormal cervical smears in pregnancy were selected from a database of cervical smear results. The selected cases were classified as regression, persistence, and progression based on the results of postpartum cervical smears and histology. Of the selected cases, 162 cases were classified as regression and the postpartum regression rate was 61.1% (162/265). We reviewed abnormal cervical smears in pregnancy these cases. The primary cytologic diagnoses of these cases were ASCUS (118 cases), AGUS (2 cases), ASCUS/AGUS (1 case), LSIL (25 cases), LSIL R/O HSIL (2 cases), and HSIL (14 cases). With information of the pregnacy, we identified decidual cells in 24 cases, but cells identified by the Arias-Stella reaction and trophoblasts were not found. Sixteen cases out of 162 cases were reclassified as a pregnancy related change rather than an abnormal. Desidual cells were considered as ASCUS in 15 cases and as LSIL in one case. The revised postpartum regression rate was 55.5%(147/265) and was lower than the original. Consequently, misinterpretation of the pregnancy related cellular changes has an effect on a rise of the postpartum regression rate of the abnormal cervical smear in pregnancy. Pathologists may diagnose pregnancy related cellular changes as abnormal findings if they do not have information regarding the pregnancy. Therefore, clinical information of pregnancy and knowledge about the pregnancy related cellular changes are essential to prevent misinterpretation.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.107-113
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• 1990

To evaluate the factors affecting the incidence of ectopic pregnancy following tubal reversal, the clinical characteristics of ectopic pregnancy group (N=28)and intrauterine pregnancy group (N=316)were compared in 344 cases of pregnancy following tubal reversal using microsurgical technique at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecolgy from July 1980 to May 1989. We found no significant relationship between the incidence of ectopic pregnancy and the duration of sterilization. Although the incidence rate (11.2%) of ectopic pregnancy following laparoscopic cautery appeared to be the highest among tubal sterilization methods, none showed statistically significant differences. There was a fourfold difference in the incidence rate of ectopic pregnancy between post-reversal tubal length less than 7cm (12.7%)and greater than 7cm (3.5%). The mean interval from tubal reversal to conception was 15.7months in ectopic pregnancy group, and 9. 3months in intrauterine pregnancy group, the difference reaching statistical significance. While most(80%)of the pregnancies were achieved within the first 12months following tubal reversal in intrauterine pregnancy group, 50% of the pregnancies occured in the same period, and the cumulative pregnancy rate is related in a linear fashion to the duration after reversal in ectopic pregnancy group. The incidence rate of ectopic pregnancy was found to be higher after cornual-ampullary anastomosis and cornual-isthmic anastomosis.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.142-150
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• 2004

To increase both iron and enhancers for iron absorption through diets should be a basic strategy to sufficiently provide increased iron for pregnancy. Previous studies reported that iron intakes of Korean pregnant women were short and their iron status deteriorated as pregnancy progressed. However, there is little data about the bioavailability of dietary iron during pregnancy. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the changes of dietary iron intakes, its bioavailability and iron status during pregnancy longitudinally in Korean women. A total of 151 pregnant women in their first trimester of pregnancy voluntarily participated. Among them, 72 women finished the research protocol during the second trimester and 55 did it during the third trimester. Dietary intakes of total iron, both non-heme and heme iron, as well as enhancers, both MPF (meat, poulty, and fish) and vitamin C, increased significantly as pregnancy progressed. As the results, bioavailability of dietary iron and iron absorbed increased significantly as pregnancy progressed. However, the amount of iron absorbed at each trimester did not meet considerably the iron needed during pregnancy. All five indices examined in the study, Hb level, Hct, serum concentrations of ferritin and sTfR (soluble transferrin receptor), and sTfR: ferritin ratio, showed that iron status of the subjects deteriorated as pregnancy progressed. The rate of anemia of the subjects increased as pregnancy progressed although more than 80% of the subjects took iron supplements after the 20th week of pregnancy. These results imply that it is needed to provide more iron especially, heme iron and dietary enhancers to prevent the deterioration of iron status during pregnancy. Future research on bioavailability of supplemental iron should be performed to determine the iron balance precisely.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.459-469
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• 2003

We examined the effects of calcium intake levels on mineral metabolism during pregnancy using calcium-deficient young adult rats. Five week-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were fed normal Ca (NCa, 0.5%) and low Ca (LCa, 0.15%) diets for five weeks (pre-pregnancy). The low Ca intake group was then divided into three groups and fed low Ca (0.15%), normal Ca (0.5%) and high Ca (1.5%) diets for 3 weeks (pregnancy). All of the rats were mated with normal male rats. The control group was fed a consistently normal Ca (0.5%) diet during pre-pregnancy and pregnancy. On the day after delivery, dams and their pups were sacrificed. We measured total protein, albumin, alkaline phosphatase and mineral content in serum and weight, length, breaking force, ash and mineral content in the femur and lumbar (L2-L4) of the dams. Whole body mineral content was measured in the pups. There was no difference in weight gain and food intake among the groups. Serum total protein and albumin were in the normal range but a little lower during pregnancy. High Ca supplementation decreased serum Mg and Fe during pregnancy. Weight, ash and Ca of the femur and lumbar significantly decreased in rats fed a chronically low Ca diet during pre-pregnancy and pregnancy. Calcium supplementation levels were above normal during pregnancy and increased the bone weight and breaking force of rats fed the low Ca diet during pre-pregnancy. However, Ca supplementation did not increase the ash and Ca contents in the bones. High Ca supplementation during pregnancy significantly decreased Mg in the bones and increased Ca and P in the kidneys. Ash content of pups from dams fed the chronically low Ca diet decreased but there was no difference in whole body Ca among the groups. Mg and Fe in the whole body decreased in pups from dams fed the high Ca diet. Pregnancy performance was reduced in dams fed the low Ca diet. These results suggest that above normal Ca supplementation levels during pregnancy restored maternal bone status to some extent in rats fed the chronically low Ca diet. The same could not be said for mineral content. Also, high Ca supplementation during pregnancy may deteriorate mineral composition in bones and other tissues. Therefore, more detailed research is needed to facilitate sound recommendations on appropriate calcium intake during pregnancy. (Korean J Nutrition 36(5): 459∼469, 2003)

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.65-78
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• 2021

Objectives: This study was aimed to investigate the weight change of the high-risk group and the general maternal group and weight-relating factors in the early postpartum period. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of those who received postpartum care from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020, in the postpartum care center affiliated with one Korean Medicine hospital. A total of 257 postpartum women's medical charts were included and divided into the high-risk group and the general maternal group. We investigated the weight changes and Body mass index (BMI) of the postpartum women and compared the difference between the two groups after taking the postpartum care. Finally, we used a Pearson correlation analysis to identify the weight-relating factors in the early postpartum period. Results: All the postpartum women showed the following results; 33.81±4.03 years old as the mean age; 22.23±3.28 as pre-pregnancy BMI; 58.21±9.18 kg of pre-pregnancy weight increased into 70.75±9.70 kg in the last month of pregnancy. Of the total 257 patients, 149 (58.0%) of high-risk pregnancy experience and 108 (42.0%) of general pregnancy were included. The edema index right after childbirth was significantly higher in the high-risk group than in the general maternal group (p<0.001), but there was no significant difference in BMI. After treatment with Korean medicine treatments, body weight, BMI, and edema index decreased significantly in both groups (p<0.01). As a result of correlation analysis, weight gain during pregnancy had a significant negative correlation with pre-pregnancy weight and pre-pregnancy BMI and a significant positive correlation with weight and BMI of the last month of pregnancy. In particular, pre-pregnancy BMI and body weight showed a significant negative correlation only in the high-risk group. Postpartum weight loss was significantly positively correlated with pre-pregnancy weight, pre-pregnancy BMI, weight & BMI of the pregnancy last month, weight gain during pregnancy, and decrease in edema (p<0.01) Conclusions: The weight during pregnancy of the high-risk group increased in inverse proportion to the pre-pregnancy BMI. The level of edema right after childbirth was significantly higher than that of the general maternal group, but showed a significant decrease after 2 weeks of Korean medicine treatments. Although it implicates the need for active Korean medicine treatments in the early postpartum period, further studies with controlled groups are needed.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.361-371
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• 1989

This study was performed to investigate the effects of stage and quality of embryo, synchrony between donor and recipient and difficulty of transfer on pregnancy rate following non-surgical transfer of frozen-thawed bovine embryos. The results were as follows; 1. The overall pregnancy rate of this experiment was 63.4% and that of heifers(73.1%) was higher than that of cows(46.7%). 2. The pregnancy rates of recipients transferred with morulae, early blastocysts and blastocysts were 50.0%, 64.7% and 71. 4%, respectively. 3. The pregnancy rate of recipients transferred with good embryos(67.9%) was higher than that of recipients transferred with fair embryos(53.8%). 4. The pregnancy rates of embryos transferred to left and right uterine horn were 63.2% and 63.6%, respectively. 5. The pregnancy rate of recipients in estrous synchrony 0(76.2%) was higher than those of recipients in synchrony -1(55.6%) and +1(44.4%). 6. The pregnancy rate of recipients transferred with 2 embryos (71. 4%) was higher than that of recipients transferred with 1 embryo(61.8%). 7. The pregnancy rate of embryos transferred to uterine tip (72.0%) was higher than that of embryos transferred to uterine base(50.0%). 8. Ease of transfer was ranked to a scale of one to three on the basis of increasing difficulty. Transfers ranked as ease score 1 accounted for 77.8% of pregnancies and had higher pregnancy rate than ease score 2(66.7%) or 3(45.5%). 9. The pregnancy rate of recipients with excellent corpus luteum(CL) (70.0%) was higher than those of recipients with good CL(61.1%) or fair CL(61.5) %. In reviewing above results, it was considered that the factors such as embryo stage, embryo quality, estrous synchrony, corpus luteum quality, transfer site within uterus, recipient's parity and ease score affected the pregnancy rate after non-surgical transfer of frozen-thawed bovine embryos.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.943-950
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• 2015

Heat stress has adverse effects on fertility of dairy animals. Decline in fertility is linearly associated with an increase in combination of both temperature and humidity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between temperature humidity index (THI) and the pregnancy rate of Murrah buffaloes in a subtropical climate. The effects of genetic and non-genetic factors viz., sire, parity, period of calving and age group at first calving were found non-significant on pregnancy rate. The effect of THI was found significant (p<0.001) on pregnancy rate of Murrah buffaloes calved for first time and overall pregnancy rate. The threshold THI affecting the pregnancy rate was identified as THI 75. The months from October to March showed THI<75 and considered as non heat stress zone (NHSZ), while months from April to September were determined as heat stress zone (HSZ) with $THI{\geq}75$. The lowest overall pregnancy rate (0.25) was obtained in July with THI 80.9, while the highest overall pregnancy rate (0.59) was found in November with THI 66.1. May and June were identified as critical heat stress zone (CHSZ) within the HSZ with maximum decline (-7%) in pregnancy rate with per unit increase in THI. The highest overall pregnancy rate was estimated as 0.45 in NHSZ with THI value 56.7 to 73.2. The pregnancy rate was found to have declined to 0.28 in HSZ with THI 73.5 to 83.7. However, the lowest pregnancy rate was estimated as 0.27 in CHSZ with THI value 80.3 to 81.6.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.95-101
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• 2010

Decorin (DCN) is a member of small leucine-rich proteoglycans which are ubiquitous components of the extracellular matrix. It regulates many physiological processes, such as matrix formation, collagen fibrillogenesis, angiogenesis, cancer growth, and cardiovascular diseases. It has been shown that DCN is expressed in the uterus during pregnancy and modulates implantation and decidualization for the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy in mice and humans. Expression of DCN in the uterine endometrium during pregnancy has not been investigated in pigs. Thus, this study investigated expression of DCN in the uterine endometrium during the estrous cycle and pregnancy in pigs. Uterine endometrial tissues were from day (D) 12 and 15 of the estrous cycle and D12, D15, D30, D60, D90, and D114 of pregnancy. Northern blot and real-time RT-PCR analyses showed that expression of DCN mRNA was detected throughout the estrous cycle and pregnancy with the highest levels during mid pregnancy. In situ hybridization analysis showed that DCN mRNA was localized to both luminal and glandular epithelia during the estrous cycle and pregnancy and also to chorionic membrane during mid pregnancy in pigs. To determine whether endometrial expression of DCN was affected by the somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) procedure, DCN mRNA levels in the uterine endometrium from gilts with SCNT embryos on D30 of pregnancy were compared with those from gilts with normal embryos using real-time RT-PCR analysis. The result showed that DCN mRNA levels in the uterine endometrium were not significantly different between gilts with normal embryos and SCNT embryos. These results suggest that DCN may play an important role for endometrial tissue remodeling during mid pregnancy, and DCN expression is not affected by the SCNT procedure at the early stage of pregnancy in pigs.