Placental Regulation of Energy Homeostasis During Human Pregnancy

Endocrinology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 161 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke Armistead ◽  
Eugenia Johnson ◽  
Robert VanderKamp ◽  
Elzbieta Kula-Eversole ◽  
Leena Kadam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Homeostasis ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Normal Pregnancy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Endocrine Regulation ◽  
Hormone Regulation ◽  
Sufficient Energy ◽  
Maternal Metabolism ◽  
Placental Hormone

Abstract Successful pregnancies rely on sufficient energy and nutrient supply, which require the mother to metabolically adapt to support fetal needs. The placenta has a critical role in this process, as this specialized organ produces hormones and peptides that regulate fetal and maternal metabolism. The ability for the mother to metabolically adapt to support the fetus depends on maternal prepregnancy health. Two-thirds of pregnancies in the United States involve obese or overweight women at the time of conception. This poses significant risks for the infant and mother by disrupting metabolic changes that would normally occur during pregnancy. Despite well characterized functions of placental hormones, there is scarce knowledge surrounding placental endocrine regulation of maternal metabolic trends in pathological pregnancies. In this review, we discuss current efforts to close this gap of knowledge and highlight areas where more research is needed. As the intrauterine environment predetermines the health and wellbeing of the offspring in later life, adequate metabolic control is essential for a successful pregnancy outcome. Understanding how placental hormones contribute to aberrant metabolic adaptations in pathological pregnancies may unveil disease mechanisms and provide methods for better identification and treatment. Studies discussed in this review were identified through PubMed searches between the years of 1966 to the present. We investigated studies of normal pregnancy and metabolic disorders in pregnancy that focused on energy requirements during pregnancy, endocrine regulation of glucose metabolism and insulin resistance, cholesterol and lipid metabolism, and placental hormone regulation.

scholarly journals Leukemia-Inhibitory Factor—Neuroimmune Modulator of Endocrine Function*

2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Auernhammer ◽  
S. Melmed
Keyword(s):  
Leukemia Inhibitory Factor ◽  
Energy Homeostasis ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Bone Cell ◽  
Janus Kinase ◽  
Inhibitory Factor ◽  
Endocrine Function ◽  
Cytokine Signaling ◽  
Endocrine Regulation

Abstract Leukemia-inhibitory factor (LIF) is a pleiotropic cytokine expressed by multiple tissue types. The LIF receptor shares a common gp130 receptor subunit with the IL-6 cytokine superfamily. LIF signaling is mediated mainly by JAK-STAT (janus-kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription) pathways and is abrogated by the SOCS (suppressor-of cytokine signaling) and PIAS (protein inhibitors of activated STAT) proteins. In addition to classic hematopoietic and neuronal actions, LIF plays a critical role in several endocrine functions including the utero-placental unit, the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis, bone cell metabolism, energy homeostasis, and hormonally responsive tumors. This paper reviews recent advances in our understanding of molecular mechanisms regulating LIF expression and action and also provides a systemic overview of LIF-mediated endocrine regulation. Local and systemic LIF serve to integrate multiple developmental and functional cell signals, culminating in maintaining appropriate hormonal and metabolic homeostasis. LIF thus functions as a critical molecular interface between the neuroimmune and endocrine systems.

scholarly journals A New Paradigm for Qualitative Research in the United States: The Era of the Third Age

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-33
Author(s):  
Dawn C. Carr ◽  
Lydia K. Manning
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
The United States ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Third Age ◽  
The Third ◽  
Meaningful Experiences

This paper reviews qualitative research in the United States, highlighting the ways research has changed in the era of the third age. With growing attention to positive and uplifting aspects of aging, qualitative research has played a critical role in the exploration of the ways in which older adults are engaging in meaningful ways with others. We describe two key methodological approaches that have been important to examining positive aspects of aging and exploring the extent to which a growing number of years of healthy retirement are redefining the aging experience: ethnographic research and grounded theory research. We also review key topics associated with qualitative research in the era of the third age. These topics fit within two dominant frameworks – research exploring meaningmaking in later life and research exploring meaningful engagement in later life. These frameworks were critically important to raising attention to meaningful experiences and interactions with others, and we propose that the agenda for future qualitative research in the United States should continue contributing to these frameworks. However, we note that a third framework should also be developed which examines what it means to be a third ager through use of a phenomenological approach, which will assist in the important task of theory building about the third age.

scholarly journals The Life Course Metaphor: Implications for Biography and Interpretive Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-15
Author(s):  
John W. Murphy ◽  
Steven L. Arxer ◽  
Linda L. Belgrave
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
The United States ◽  
Third Age ◽  
The Third ◽  
Grounded Theory Research ◽  
Meaningful Experiences

This paper reviews qualitative research in the United States, highlighting the ways research has changed in the era of the third age. With growing attention to positive and uplifting aspects of aging, qualitative research has played a critical role in the exploration of the ways in which older adults are engaging in meaningful ways with others. We describe two key methodological approaches that have been important to examining positive aspects of aging and exploring the extent to which a growing number of years of healthy retirement are redefining the aging experience: ethnographic research and grounded theory research. We also review key topics associated with qualitative research in the era of the third age. These topics fit within two dominant frameworks – research exploring meaningmaking in later life and research exploring meaningful engagement in later life. These frameworks were critically important to raising attention to meaningful experiences and interactions with others, and we propose that the agenda for future qualitative research in the United States should continue contributing to these frameworks. However, we note that a third framework should also be developed which examines what it means to be a third age through use of a phenomenological approach, which will assist in the important task of theory building about the third age.

scholarly journals Active Ageing across the Life Course: Towards a Comprehensive Approach to Prevention

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Liam Foster ◽  
Alan Walker
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Later Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Population Ageing ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Comprehensive Approach ◽  
Active Ageing ◽  
Successful Ageing ◽  
The Life Course

“Active ageing” has become the leading scientific and policy conceptualization of a later life over the past two decades in the European Union (EU). It has been used as a key strategy for responding to demographic ageing. In the United States, in contrast, discourses around successful ageing have been more prevalent. This review article charts the development of active ageing responses to demographic change, showing how the concept compares with the notion of successful ageing and other terms associated with “ageing well.” It identifies how, in practice, active ageing has been dominated by a narrow economic or productivist interpretation that prioritizes the extension of working life (to reduce the “burden” of population ageing). Such interpretations of active ageing undermine its value and emphasize the need for a more comprehensive approach which is set out. The development of the Active Ageing Index in 2012 provided a new analytical tool to promote evidence-based strategies towards population ageing. However, in practice, we show how it has not yet engaged fully with a comprehensive approach to active ageing or with the critical role of the life course in shaping the experience of old age. Nonetheless, this review article shows that the concept of active ageing still has an important role to play in our understanding of and responses to population ageing.

Bilingual and Monolingual Students' Perceptions of the CSD Major: A Qualitative Study

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flora Keshishian ◽  
Rebecca Wiseheart
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
School Setting ◽  
The United States ◽  
Bilingual Students ◽  
Speech Language Pathology ◽  
Diverse Environment ◽  
Language Pathology ◽  
Areas Of Interest

There is a growing demand for bilingual services in speech-language pathology and audiology. To meet this growing demand, and given their critical role in the recruitment of more bilingual professionals, higher education institutions need to know more about bilingual students' impression of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) as a major. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate bilingual and monolingual undergraduate students' perceptions of the CSD major. One hundred and twenty-two students from a large university located in a highly multicultural metropolitan area responded to four open-ended questions aimed at discovering students' major areas of interest (and disinterest) as well as their motivations for pursuing a degree in CSD. Consistent with similar reports conducted outside the United States, students from this culturally diverse environment indicated choosing the major for altruistic reasons. A large percentage of participants were motivated by a desire to work with children, but not in a school setting. Although 42% of the participants were bilingual, few indicated an interest in taking an additional course in bilingual studies. Implications of these findings as well as practical suggestions for the recruitment of bilingual students are discussed.

Building America

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean H. Baker
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Early Republic ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Water System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Early American ◽  
Transatlantic Exchange ◽  
The Us ◽  
Private Homes

Building America: The Life of Benjamin Henry Latrobe is a biography of America’s first professionally trained architect and engineer. Born in 1764, Latrobe was raised in Moravian communities in England and Germany. His parents expected him to follow his father and brother into the ministry, but he rebelled against the church. Moved to London, he studied architecture and engineering. In 1795 he emigrated to the United States and became part of the period’s Transatlantic Exchange. Latrobe soon was famous for his neoclassical architecture, designing important buildings, including the US Capitol and Baltimore Basilica as well as private homes. Carpenters and millwrights who built structures more cheaply and less permanently than Latrobe challenged his efforts to establish architecture as a profession. Rarely during his twenty-five years in the United States was he financially secure, and when he was, he speculated on risky ventures that lost money. He declared bankruptcy in 1817 and moved to New Orleans, the sixth American city that he lived in, hoping to recoup his finances by installing a municipal water system. He died there of yellow fever in 1820. The themes that emerge in this biography are the critical role Latrobe played in the culture of the early republic through his buildings and his genius in neoclassical design. Like the nation’s political founders, Latrobe was committed to creating an exceptional nation, expressed in his case by buildings and internal improvements. Additionally, given the extensive primary sources available for this biography, an examination of his life reveals early American attitudes toward class, family, and religion.

scholarly journals Sexuality in Later Life and Mental Health Among Older Black Gay Men

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 313-314
Author(s):  
Darlingtina Esiaka ◽  
Alice Cheng ◽  
Candidus Nwakasi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Later Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Sexual Identities ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Black Gay Men

Abstract Self-acknowledgement and integration of racial and sexual identities are significant to one’s overall sense of identity because of their implications for mental health and wellbeing. These issues are important as one ages because older people experience a wide range of factors that add layers to their ability to (re)integrate subsets of their identity into their overall self-identity such as age and age-related disabilities. This study examined the intersection of race and sexual identities on overall health status in older Black gay men, a demographic group that has historically received less attention. Data from the Social Justice Sexuality (SJS) survey of LGBTQ+ people of color which occurred over a 12-month period in the United States were analyzed. Participants (N=160), 50 years and over, responded to questions about their sexuality, social identity, family dynamics, community connection and engagement, and mental and physical health. Results show an association of mental wellbeing with racial and sexual identities. Further, results show that a strong sense of connection to other sexual minorities is positively associated with mental health in older Black gay men. We discuss the implication of findings for mental health interventions targeting this gendered population.

scholarly journals Oligodendroglial Energy Metabolism and (re)Myelination

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 238
Author(s):  
Vanja Tepavčević
Keyword(s):  
Energy Metabolism ◽  
Alternative Energy ◽  
Energy Homeostasis ◽  
Energy Deficit ◽  
Maturation Stage ◽  
Trophic Support ◽  
Important Contributor ◽  
Alternative Energy Sources ◽  
Axonal Pathology ◽  
Sufficient Energy

Central nervous system (CNS) myelin has a crucial role in accelerating the propagation of action potentials and providing trophic support to the axons. Defective myelination and lack of myelin regeneration following demyelination can both lead to axonal pathology and neurodegeneration. Energy deficit has been evoked as an important contributor to various CNS disorders, including multiple sclerosis (MS). Thus, dysregulation of energy homeostasis in oligodendroglia may be an important contributor to myelin dysfunction and lack of repair observed in the disease. This article will focus on energy metabolism pathways in oligodendroglial cells and highlight differences dependent on the maturation stage of the cell. In addition, it will emphasize that the use of alternative energy sources by oligodendroglia may be required to save glucose for functions that cannot be fulfilled by other metabolites, thus ensuring sufficient energy input for both myelin synthesis and trophic support to the axons. Finally, it will point out that neuropathological findings in a subtype of MS lesions likely reflect defective oligodendroglial energy homeostasis in the disease.

scholarly journals Sildenafil versus Nifedipine Treatment of PRETERM LABOR: RCT

QJM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 113 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M A Alkady ◽  
M H Mostafa ◽  
R K Elkattan
Keyword(s):  
Preterm Labor ◽  
Normal Pregnancy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Labor Pain ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
P Value ◽  
Term Pregnancy ◽  
Premature Rupture ◽  
Preterm Premature Rupture ◽  
Future Therapy

Abstract Background a normal pregnancy lasts 37 to 42 weeks, counting from the first day of the last menstrual period. A pregnancy that continues beyond 37 weeks is called a “term” pregnancy. Preterm labor is defined as labor that begins before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Approximately 12 percent of babies in the United States are born preterm; 80 percent of these are due to preterm labor that occurs on its own or after preterm premature rupture of the fetal membranes (or “broken bag of waters”). The remaining 20 percent are planned early deliveries that are done for maternal or fetal problems that prevent the woman from being able to safely continue with her pregnancy. Aim of the Work to assess the efficacy of sildenafil for stopping the labor for 48 hrs compared to nifedipine in women with preterm labor. Patients and Methods this prospective study was carried on pregnant women with preterm labor pain at Ain Shams University Hospital from March 2018 till September 2018. Study includes 88 patients which were distributed into two groups: Group S: received Sildenafil to stop preterm labor.Group N: received Nifedipine to stop preterm labor. Results in the present study we found that mean age in group receiving sildenafil (group S) was 26.55 years and in group receiving nifidpine (group N) was 26.75 years with insignificant differences between two groups as regard age p-value 0.798, also as regard. BMI and parity there was insignificant differences between two groups as regard BMI p-value 0.727, 0.815 respectively, Mean Gestational age at admission was 27.1 weeks in group S and in group N was 28.16 with insignificant differences between two groups p-value 0.705. Conclusion administration of Sildenafil in women with preterm labor pain seems to be a promising future therapy of preterm labor with, limiting the teratogenic influence of the drugs on the fetus.

scholarly journals Pain and Hardship Among Older Men: Examining the Buffering Effect of Medicare Insurance Coverage

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1439-1449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian L. Marshall ◽  
Tamara A. Baker ◽  
Chiho Song ◽  
David B. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Older Men ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pain Severity ◽  
Financial Strain ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Retirement Study

To better understand the health status of men in the United States, this study aimed to assess the association of hardship on the presence of and pain severity among men 50 years of age and older. Cross-sectional multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted using the 2010 wave of the Health and Retirement Study ( N = 3,174) to assess the association between four hardship indicators and the presence of pain and pain severity among this sample of older men. Results suggest that the association between the presence of pain and hardship was statistically significant across all four indicators: ongoing financial hardship (CI [1.05, 1.63], p < .05), difficulty paying bills (CI [1.42, 3.02], p < .001), food insecurity (CI [1.46, 3.15], p < .001), and not taking medication due to cost (CI [1.06, 1.66], p < .05), even after adjusting for all demographic factors. The associations between pain severity and ongoing financial strain (CI [1.23, 2.83], p < .01) and difficulty paying bills (CI [1.02, 3.18], p < .05) were statistically significant. Results also indicate that education was a buffer at all levels. In addition, the interactive effect of hardship and Medicare insurance coverage on pain severity was significant only for ongoing financial strain (CI [1.74, 14.33], p > .001) and difficulty paying bills (CI [1.26, 7.05], p < .05). The evidence is clear that each hardship indicators is associated with the presence of pain and across some of the indicators in pain severity among men aged 50 and older. In addition, these findings stress the importance that Medicare insurance plays in acting as a buffer to alleviate some of the hardships experienced by older men. These findings also highlight the association between the presence of pain and pain severity for the overall quality of life, health outcomes, and financial position of men in later life.

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