"Placental development" refers to the growth and formation of the placenta, which is an important organ that forms during pregnancy. The placenta provides nutrients and oxygen to the developing baby in the womb and carries away waste and carbon dioxide. It acts as a connection between the mother and the baby, allowing them to exchange necessary substances for the baby's development.
Full definition
Still, she cautions that in allowing patients to start the drug as late as 20 weeks into pregnancy the protocol may not have been ideal for exploring whether the drug helps prevent preeclampsia; experts
in placental development often suggest starting with a blood thinner as early as eight weeks, she says.
Results show that alcohol, methamphetamine, and marijuana were associated with distinct patterns of pathology, suggesting that different mechanisms mediate their effects
on placental development.
This is the first study to examine the effects of prenatal exposure to methamphetamine, marijuana, and cigarette smoking on
human placental development.
If placental development is impaired, this may lead to growth disorders of the embryo or to life - threatening diseases of the mother such as preeclampsia, a serious condition involving high blood pressure and increased urinary protein excretion.
They discovered that the placentas of preeclampsia patients showed more activity in the gene for sFlt1, a protein that blocks the effects of vascular endothelial growth factor and placental growth factor, two key proteins necessary for an
adequate placental development and normal blood vessel health.
By using mice in which methylation of the egg's DNA had been blocked, the researchers found that DNA methylation occurring during the development of the egg was essential for
correct placental development.
The research, which was performed in mice, indicates that a mother's health, even before conception, may influence the health of her fetus, and opens questions on how a mother's age may
influence placental development.
Other factors associated with immunity and maternal nutrition could also interfere with ZIKV vertical transmission, as could individual factors that interfere
with placental development, and should be further investigated.15
The Placenta Rainbow highlights differences in
mouse placental development that can result from manipulation of the mother's immune system.
[12] The development of the placenta during pregnancy is partially responsible for the disregulation of the HPA axis; the hormones that
cause placental development can increase the sensitivity of the pituitary to stress hormones.
Animal studies have shown some of the adverse effects of PAE
on placental development, but few studies have examined these effects in humans.
«We were surprised to find that DNA methylation from the egg played a much larger role
in placental development than methylation that was introduced after fertilisation, whereas in the embryo both are important,» explains Miguel Branco, a group leader from Queen Mary University of London who led the work.
«We know that dietary restrictions can have an effect on pregnancy and on fetal and
placental development, but we are not as familiar with preconception effects that are relatively acute and then seeing the effect later on in pregnancy.
Then, embryonic and / or
placental development was evaluated on days three, six, 10, 12 and 16 of pregnancy.
«Evolution, it seems, has granted mothers the tools to control the growth of their progeny during pregnancy by instructing on
placental development.»
UCSF labs with expertise in virology,
placental development, brain development, genomics and blood safety have already come together to expand on these pilot studies.
Among them are 121 genes that have embryonic lethal phenotypes in mice, cause defects in trophoblast and
placental development, and / or affect conceptus survival in mice.
However, the disrupted embryonic and fetal development of cattle clones produced by SCNT has been used as a model to elucidate the mechanisms of embryo loss, the maternal recognition of pregnancy (13, 14), and
placental development (15 ⇓ — 17).