• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.38 no.7
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• pp.578-585
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• 2005

Maternal zinc deficiency is relatively common worldwide, but its consequences for pregnancy outcome are not established. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of zinc status in the second trimester on pregnancy outcome. Subjects were 248 pregnant Korean women (25-28 wk gestation). Cord blood was collected from subgroup of 69 women and pregnancy outcome data were obtained from 185 babies. Anthropometry measurement, dietary intake, and biochemical characteristics of pregnancy and cord serum substances were measured. The subjects were divided into quartiles on the basis of maternal serum Zn concentration; $ZnQ_1$ (< 25 percentile), $ZnQ_2$ ($26\~50$ percentile), $ZnQ_3$ ($51\~75$ percentile), and $ZnQ_4$ ($76\~100$ percentile). Zn groups were compared in terms of various maternal factors, concentrations of cord serum substances, and pregnancy outcome. Maternal serum Zn concentration was $118.4\;{\pm}\;35.5\;{\mu}g/dl$ as mean. Intake of Zn was lower than Korean RDA. The rate of Zn deficiency among all subjects was $8.5\%$. Maternal serum Zn levels belonged to normal range. Cord serum Zn level was about $154.7\%$ of maternal serum level. Intakes of energy, calcium, iron, folic acid, and riboflavin did not meet the Korean RDA for pregnant women by gestational age. The mean birth weight of neonates is 3083 $\pm$ 697 g, of whom $9.1\%$ were of low birth weight (< 2,500 g). Maternal serum Zn level was positively correlated with pre-pregnancy weight, pre-pregnancy body mass index, and vitamin C intake (p < 0.05). $ZnQ_1$ group had significantly lower maternal serum iron concentration and higher cord serum cholesterol than those in other groups. Maternal serum Zn level, cord serum Zn level, and dietary Zn intake were no related to the pregnancy outcome. The birth weight had a correlation with the maternal hemoglobin and albumin concentration. In conclusion, at this study, we could not find the association with maternal Zn status in 2nd trimester and pregnancy outcome.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.459-466
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• 1998

To investigate the effect of coffee consumption during pregnancy on serum lipids in maternal and infants` umbilical cord blood, 76 cases of newborn infants and women delivered o f a child who had delivered at hospital located in Chung-Ju city from Feb. 1, 1996 to Aug. 31, 1996 were studied. The gestational ages of cases were 37 to 42 weeks and the average maternal ages were $28.3{\pm}4.63$ years old without any other medical or obstetric problems. Infants` Apgar scores and birth weights were decreased by above 3 cups per day of coffee consumption during pregnancy. No relationships between coffee consumption during pregnancy and maternal serum lipid levels were observed. However, serum total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels in infants` umbilical cord were significantly increased with increasing coffee consumption during pregnancy. In contrary to coffee consumption, alcohol drinking habits affected maternal serum lipid levels but not serum lipid levels in infants` umbilical cord blood. Coffee consumption during pregnancy increased caffeine concentration in infants` umbilical cord blood. These results suggest that caffeine from maternal consumption of coffee can easily pass to the fetus and significantly affect serum lipids levels in infants` umbilical cord blood rather than those in maternal blood.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.213-221
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• 1990

This study was conducted to find out the changes of progesterone and estrone sulphate concentration in serum of Korean native goats throughout gestation, and to apply the serum levels of the hormones to pregnancy diagnosis. Serum concentration of progesterone and estrone sulphate were assayed by radioimmunoassay. Serum progesterone concentration was similar to its luteal phase values during early pregnancy and remained at the high level continually at 20∼140days and decreased rapidly at the day of parturition. Serum estrone sulphate concentration showed to increase markedly at 40∼50dyas gestation and steadily increased to the maximum of 7.13ng/ml at 140days, but declined sharply at the day of parturition. The accuracy of pregnancy diagnosis by the measurement of serum progesterone at 20∼24days after mating was 85.7∼92.3% and that of non-pregnancy diagnosis was 100%, when the serum progesterone levels higher and lower than 3.0ng/ml were supposed to indicate pregnancy and non-pregnancy, respectively. The accuracy of pregnancy diagnosis by the mearsurement of serum estrone sulphate was found to be nearly 100% since 50days after mating, when the serum levels of estrone sulphate higher then 0.5ng/ml were diagnosed to be pregnant. The optimal sampling time for pregnancy diagnosis was considered to be at 50 days after mating or to be later. It appears that estrone sulphate values above 7.0ng/ml at any time in gestation are highly indicative of twin. But there was found no significant difference(P<0.05) in serum estrone sulphate concentration and number of kids between does with single and twin kids.

• Obstetrics & gynecology science
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• v.61 no.6
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• pp.669-674
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• 2018

Objective This study aimed to develop a nomogram that predicts ongoing pregnancy after in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) using patient age and serum hormonal markers. Methods A total of 284 IVF-ET cycles were retrospectively analyzed. At 14 days post-oocyte pick-up (OPU), the serum human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and progesterone levels were measured. The main predicted outcome was ongoing pregnancy. Results Patient age and serum of HCG and progesterone levels at 14 days post-OPU were good predictors of ongoing pregnancy. The cut-off value and area under the curve (AUC) (95% confidence interval) were 36.5 years and 0.666 (0.599-0.733), respectively, for patient age; 67.8 mIU/mL and 0.969 (0.951-0.987), respectively, for serum HCG level; and 29.8 ng/mL and 0.883 (0.840-0.925), respectively, for serum progesterone level. When the prediction model was constructed using these three parameters, the addition of serum progesterone level to the prediction model did not increase its overall predictability. Furthermore, a high linear co-relationship was found between serum HCG and progesterone levels. Therefore, we developed a new nomogram using patient age and HCG serum level only. The AUC of the newly developed nomogram for predicting ongoing pregnancy after IVF-ET cycles using patient age and serum HCG level was as high as 0.975. Conclusion We showed that ongoing pregnancy may be predicted using only patient age and HCG serum level. Our nomogram could help clinicians and patients predict ongoing pregnancy after IVF-ET if the serum JCG level was ${\geq}5IU/L$ at 14 days post-OPU.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.854-861
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• 1999

Seventeen pregnant ewes (8 superovulated and 9 non-superovulated) were used to study correlations of maternal serum progesterone concentrations with uterine and fatal weights at weeks 7 and 15 of pregnancy. Statistical analyses indicated that uterine growth during the first 7 weeks of pregnancy highly associated with maternal serum progesterone concentration (r=0.87 and 0.85, with wet and dry uterine weights, respectively). Ewes with higher maternal serum progesterone concentrations had higher total and average fetal weights at week 7 of pregnancy (r=0.89 and 0.86, respectively). At week 7 of pregnancy, wet and dry uterine weights highly correlated (p<0.01) with total and average fatal weights (r=0.99 and 0.80, 0.98 and 0.75, respectively). Maternal serum progesterone concentrations, however, did not correlate (p>0.05) with wet and dry uterine weights (r=0.36 and 0.47, respectively) and with total and average fetal weights (r=0.20 and 0.58, respectively) at week 15 of pregnancy. However, wet and dry uterine weights had high correlation with total fetal weight (r=0.97 and 0.95, respectively), without significant correlation with average fetal weight. It was concluded that during the embryonic stage of pregnancy, the levels of maternal progesterone were highly correlated with uterine and fetal growths, while during the fetal stage pregnancy, the correlation became less evident.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.298-301
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• 2004

Pregnancy diagnosis by ultrasonography was performed for both pregnant and non-pregnant Asiatic black bears which were being under hibernation. Pregnancy was diagnosed for a pregnant bear by detecting images of heart-beat and vertebrae on ultrasonograph. Serum progesterone levels were measured for both pregnant and non-pregnant bears. The level of serum progesterone was 5.79 ng/ml for a pregnant bear and 0.76 ng/ml for a non-pregnant bear, respectively, thereby it was considered that measurement of serum progesterone level can be also useful for pregnancy diagnosis for Asiatic black bear.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.59-61
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• 1982

To evaluate the diagnostic value of the ratio of serum tyroxine$(T_4)$/thyroxine-binding globulin (TBG) for the thyroid status in pregnancy and newborn serum thyroxine, TBG, triiodothyronine, and free thyroxine levels were radioimmunoassayed in normal pregnant women at each of the trimesters, and the calculated serum $T_4/TBG$ ratios were compared with other parameters such as $T_3/TBG$ ratio and free $T_4/TBG$ ratio and free $T_4/TBG$ ratio. Serum $T_4$ levels were elevated with the propotionate increase in TBG levels during pregnancy, leading to the nearly constant value of serum $T_4/TBG$ ratios as in normal non-pregnant controls. In contrast, serum $T_3/TBG$ and free $T_4/TBG$ ratios varied considerably during pregnancy. In newborn, $T_4$ levels were nearly not changed with compared non-pregnant control value and TBG levels were elevated. The results indicate that serum $T_4/TBG$ ratio is a better parameter than others in evaluating the thyroid status during pregnancy and but newborn is a no better.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.682-688
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• 1999

Thirty nine pregnant Javanese thin-tail ewes (20 and 19 carried a single and multiple [2 to 3] fetuses, respectively), and six nonpregnant ewes as controls were used to measure maternal serum hormone and blood metabolite concentrations as predictors of number of fetuses carried during pregnancy. Serum hormones (progesterone, estradiol, triiodothyronine, and cortisol) and blood metabolites (b-hydroxy butyric acid [BHBA], and blood urea nitrogen [BUN]) were determined every four weeks during pregnancy and were used to predict litter size by discriminant analysis. The results of data analysis indicated that serum progesterone and estradiol concentrations at weeks 8, 12, 16 of pregnancy could be used to predict the number of fetuses carried with precision of 86.7 to 95.6%. Serum triiodothyronine, cortisol, BHBA, and BUN concentrations during pregnancy, however, were not good predictors of the number of fetuses carried. Serum progesterone and estradiol concentrations as early as 8 weeks of pregnancy in sheep could predict the number of fetuses carried with 86.7% precision.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.788-795
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• 2015

Two dimensional-fluorescence difference gel electrophoresis (2D DIGE) is an emerging technique for comparative proteomics, which improves the reproducibility and reliability of differential protein expression analysis between samples. The purpose of this study was to investigate bovine pregnancy-specific proteins in the proteome between bovine pregnant and non-pregnant serum using DIGE technique. Serums of 2 pregnant Holstein dairy cattle at day 21 after artificial insemination and those of 2 non-pregnant were used in this study. The pre-electrophoretic labeling of pregnant and non-pregnant serum proteins were mixed with Cy3 and Cy5 fluorescent dyes, respectively, and an internal standard was labeled with Cy2. Labeled proteins with Cy2, Cy3, and Cy5 were separated together in a single gel, and then were detected by fluorescence image analyzer. The 2D DIGE method using fluorescence CyDye DIGE flour had higher sensitivity than conventional 2D gel electrophoresis, and showed reproducible results. Approximately 1,500 protein spots were detected by 2D DIGE. Several proteins showed a more than 1.5-fold up and down regulation between non-pregnant and pregnant serum proteins. The differentially expressed proteins were identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer. A total 16 protein spots were detected to regulate differentially in the pregnant serum, among which 7 spots were up-regulated proteins such as conglutinin precursor, modified bovine fibrinogen and IgG1, and 6 spots were down-regulated proteins such as hemoglobin, complement component 3, bovine fibrinogen and IgG2a three spots were not identified. The identified proteins demonstrate that early pregnant bovine serum may have several pregnancy-specific proteins, and these could be a valuable information for the development of pregnancy-diagnostic markers in early pregnancy bovine serum.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.467-475
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• 2006

The necessity of adequate pregnancy weight gain for optimal pregnancy outcome has been recognized. However, the specific components of pregnancy weight gain that might be critical for fetal growth and development have not been elucidated clearly. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation of pregnancy weight gain and birth weight with serum leptin levels in women delivered newborns. The subjects were recruited from K university hospital. The subject's characteristic data (age $32.1\;{\pm}\;4.3\;y$, gestational age $39.5\;{\pm}\;1.1wk$, pre-pregnancy weight $58.0\;{\pm}\;8.6\;kg$, pregnancy weight gain $12.7\;{\pm}\;5.5\;kg$, newborn's birth weight $3.5\;{\pm}\;0.5\;kg$) were gathered. Maternal dietary assessment was carried out at the end of pregnancy. After delivery, blood samples were collected from 20 mother-newborn pairs. Serum levels of various lipids and leptin were analyzed. Maternal daily consumption of iron, zinc, folate were lower than the RDA of each nutrient and index of nutritional quality was less than 1 showing that the quality of maternal diet was low. The levels of serum leptin of mothers and infants were $10.2\;{\pm}\;6.7\;ng/ml$ and $1.7\;{\pm}\;0.6\;ng/ml$, respectively. The serum leptin concentrations of male infants $(1.9\;{\pm}\;0.7\;ng\;ml)$ were not different from that of females $(1.7{\pm}0.5\;ng/ml)$. A negative correlation was found between the maternal pre-pregnant BMI and weight gain during pregnancy (r = -0.54, p < 0.05). There was a positive correlation between the pregnancy weight gain and the newborn's birth weight (r=0.59, p < 0.01 There were also positive correlation between newborn's birth weight and newborn's serum leptin levels (r = 0.57, p < 0.01). No correlations were found between maternal serum leptin levels and that of newborn's. Efforts should be made to attain adequate diet and weight gain during the pregnancy to reduce the likelihood of low or over birth weight of newborns.