No abstract

This study demonstrates that exercise training in women who had had preeclampsia and control subjects improves components of MetS, endothelial function, vascular wall thickness, and autonomic control. Nonetheless, trained women who had had preeclampsia only reached a cardiovascular status that is comparable with sedentary healthy control subjects.

Age-matched reference values for lymphocyte subpopulations are generally obtained via cross-sectional studies, whereas patients are followed longitudinally. We performed a detailed longitudinal analysis of the changes in lymphocyte subpopulations in a group of 11 healthy infants followed from birth up to 1 y of age, with special attention for early developmental markers, markers of maturation, and markers of activation. We found that T and B lymphocytes increased at 1 and 6 wk of age, respectively. In contrast, NK cells showed a sharp decline directly after birth, suggesting that they are more important during pregnancy than thereafter. CD45RAϩ -mainly CD4 ϩ -naive T lymphocytes were high at birth, and increased further during the first year of life; they form a large expanding pool of cells, ready for participation in primary immune responses. The absolute counts of CD45RO ϩ memory T lymphocytes were similar in infants and adults, albeit with a lower level of expression of CD45RO on infant T lymphocytes. Almost all infant T lymphocytes expressed CD38 throughout the first year of life. The abundant expression of CD38 on an infant's T lymphocytes might be related to a greater metabolic need of the large population of naive untriggered cells that are continually involved in primary immune responses during the first year of life. The high B lymphocyte counts in infants mainly concerned CD38 ϩ B lymphocytes throughout the first year of life. Also, the relative frequencies of CD1c ϩ and CD5 ϩ B lymphocytes were higher throughout the first year of life than in adults. Therefore, CD1c, CD5, and CD38 could be markers of untriggered B lymphocytes. Immunophenotyping of blood lymphocyte subpopulations is an important tool in the diagnosis and follow-up of children with immune disorders. Correct interpretation of the obtained results requires knowledge of the normal development of the immune system during the first years of life.For this purpose, several sets of age-matched reference values of relative frequencies and absolute counts of lymphocyte subpopulations in childhood have been reported (1-5). Because of the higher blood lymphocyte counts in neonates and infants compared with adults (1, 6), differences in lymphocyte subpopulations are better reflected by comparison of absolute counts than relative frequencies. In that way, trends are observed that are missed when only relative frequencies are used (1). These absolute lymphocyte counts are more accurately determined by the lysed whole blood technique than by analysis after density gradient separation (7,8).To date, age-matched reference values for lymphocyte subpopulations were all obtained in cross-sectional studies. Longitudinal studies in individual children are more informative about the pattern of lymphocyte subpopulation development as a function of time. Children with immune disorders are also followed longitudinally. Therefore, it is useful to compare patient data with data from studies on longitudinal development of lymphocyte subpopulations in healthy childr...

These data indicate that in women with moderate to severe complaints of pelvic pain during pregnancy, sacroiliac joint asymmetric laxity measured during pregnancy is predictive of the persistence of moderate to severe pregnancy-related pelvic pain into the postpartum period.

Exercise has numerous effects on the pregnant woman, the developing fetus, and the placenta. In turn, pregnancy affects the ability to perform physical activity. During pregnancy, increased metabolism at rest results almost exclusively from the gestational increase in mass. Because of this increase, a higher cardiorespiratory effort is required to perform a given amount of external work. One would expect the result to be some training effect, unless a more sedentary lifestyle is adopted. The possibility that maximal O2 consumption may increase during pregnancy has not been studied extensively, yet it is a most important variable that puts other changes in perspective. The sedentary lifestyle commonly adopted in late pregnancy in most western societies may reflect a cultural rather than a physiological phenomenon. In contrast to the physiological alterations in the mother and despite the reductions in uterine blood flow during maternal exercise, physiological changes in the fetus are small. Relatively minor changes occur in the blood concentrations of O2 and substrates during prolonged exhaustive exercise. In addition, despite a temperature increase of 1 to 2 degrees C, there is little evidence for significant alteration in fetal metabolism, cardiovascular hemodynamics, or blood catecholamine concentrations. These observations suggest that acute exercise normally does not represent a major stress for the fetus. Of course, most of the information concerning the fetus is derived from studies in experimental animals, particularly in sheep. In humans the upright position and increased uterine contractibility may affect the fetal responses differently. Virtually nothing is known about the physiological effects of exercise training on the fetus. The most likely effect may be a relatively small reduction in birth weight in some species, but this needs further investigation. Further studies are also needed for a more complete understanding of the mechanisms involved in the remarkably effective mechanisms that account for the relative homeostasis of the fetus during maternal exercise.