The use of supplementary CGM combined with routine antenatal care can improve the glycemic control and pregnancy outcomes of patients with GDM.

Background: Imbalances in gut microbiota composition are linked to hypertension, host metabolic abnormalities, systemic inflammation, and other conditions. In the present study, we examined the changes of gut microbiota in women with early-onset preeclampsia (PE) and in normotensive, uncomplicated pregnant women during late pregnancy and at 1 and 6 weeks postpartum. Methods: Gut microbiota profiles of women with PE and healthy pregnant women in the third trimester and at 1 and 6 weeks postpartum were assessed by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Plasma levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP), zonulin, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were measured in the third trimesters. Results: At the genus level, 8 bacterial genera were significantly enriched in the antepartum samples of PE patients compared to healthy controls, of which Blautia, Ruminococcus2, Bilophila , and Fusobacterium represented the major variances in PE microbiomes. Conversely, 5 genera, including Faecalibacterium, Gemmiger, Akkermansia, Dialister , and Methanobrevibacter , were significantly depleted in antepartum PE samples. Maternal blood pressure and liver enzyme levels were positively correlated to the PE-enriched genera such as Anaerococcus, Ruminococcus2, Oribacterium , and Bilophila , while the fetal features (e.g., Apgar score and newborn birth weight) were positively correlated with PE-depleted genera and negatively correlated with PE-enriched genera. Moreover, maternal blood IL-6 level was positively associated with gut Bilophila and Oribacterium , whereas LPS level was negatively associated with Akkermansia . In terms of postpartum women, both the gut microbial composition and the PE-associated microbial alterations were highly consistent with those of the antepartum women. Conclusion: PE diagnosed in the third trimester of pregnancy is associated with a disrupted gut microbiota composition compared with uncomplicated pregnant women, which are associated with maternal clinical features (blood pressure level and liver dysfunction) and newborn birth weight. Moreover, these antepartum alterations in gut microbiota persisted 6 weeks postpartum.

Alkaloids are nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds typically isolated from plants. They represent one of the most important types of natural products because of their large number and structural diversity and complexity. Based on their chemical core structures, alkaloids are classified as isoquinolines, quinolines, indoles, piperidine alkaloids, etc. In-depth analyses of alkaloids have revealed their antibacterial activities. To date, due to the widespread use of antibiotics, the problem of drug-resistant bacterial infections has been gradually increasing, which severely affects the clinical efficacy of antibacterial therapies and patient safety. Therefore, significant research efforts are focused on alkaloids because they represent a potentially new type of natural antibiotic with a wide antibacterial spectrum, rare adverse reactions, and a low tendency to produce drug resistance. Their main antibacterial mechanisms include inhibition of bacterial cell wall synthesis, change in cell membrane permeability, inhibition of bacterial metabolism, and inhibition of nucleic acid and protein synthesis. This article reviews recent reports about the chemical structures and the antibacterial activities and mechanisms of alkaloids. The purpose is to solve the problem of bacterial resistance and to provide a certain theoretical basis and research ideas for the development of new antibacterial drugs.

Background The relative contributions of a cluster of metabolic risk factors to pregnancy complications are not fully understood. We investigated the correlation between clustering of metabolic risk factors and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Both hypertension and preeclampsia (PE) are considered as inflammatory diseases. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is an inflammatory marker associated with lipid metabolism. We aimed to study the correlation and predictive value of Lp-PLA2 in postpartum hypertension after PE. A group of 160 PE patients (PE group) and a separate group of 160 normal pregnant women (control group) were recruited from January 2010 to October 2011. The average age in the PE group was 28.4 ± 4.5 years and the average gestational age was 34.7 ± 1.1 weeks. The average age in the control group was 27.8 ± 4.5 years and the average gestational age was 35.5 ± 1.2 weeks. General information (including age, gestational age, parity, history of metabolic disease, family history of high blood pressure, height, body weight before childbirth, and blood pressure) and blood samples were collected for measuring Lp-PLA2 and lipid parameters. From February to April in 2013, 153 cases in the PE group and 132 in the control group were re-called. We assessed their postpartum health, pregnancy, height, weight, and blood pressure. Serum mass of Lp-PLA2 in the PE group (210.67 ± 17.98 ng/mL) was significantly higher compared with that in the control group (174.72 ± 30.26 ng/mL) (P < 0.01). The pro-gestation BMI, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) were also significantly higher. Correlation analysis showed that the level of Lp-PLA2 and SBP (r = 0.31), LDL-C (r = 0.37) were positively correlated. The incidence of postpartum hypertension in the PE group was higher than that in the normal control group. Logistic regression analysis showed that prenatal Lp-PLA2 mass was an independent risk factor for PE postpartum hypertension (OR 1.134,95 % CI 1.086-1.185). ROC curve analysis showed that the sensitivity of predicting postpartum hypertension was 73.2% and the specific degree was 86.6%, with Lp-PLA2 level of 217.75 ng/mL for boundary value. The onset of postpartum hypertension in PE patients may contribute to vascular inflammation, which is associated with antepartum lipid metabolism.

It is rare for a study to address immediate metabolic change in pre-eclamptic pregnancy. Our aim is to study the ante-partum and post-partum metabolic markers in pre-eclampsia. A total of 33 pre-eclamptic and 200 uncomplicated women with singleton pregnancies were recruited for the prospective research. Immediately ante-partum and 24-48 h postpartum venous blood samples were collected for the analysis of metabolic markers. In the pre-eclamptic group, the ante-partum fasting glucose, fasting insulin, triglyceride and free fatty acid levels were found to be higher than in the control group; however, ante-partum high-density lipoprotein level was lower. Interestingly, fasting glucose and insulin levels decreased by 24-48 h post-partum in both groups and no significant differences were found.Pre-eclamptic patients had lower post-partum highdensity lipoprotein (P ¼ 0.02), higher triglyceride (Po0.001), higher free fatty acid (P ¼ 0.02) and higher apolipoprotein B levels (P ¼ 0.01) than the control group. Dyslipidemia lasts from ante-partum to immediate postpartum in pre-eclamptic women in the form of increased triglyceride, higher free fatty acid and decreased highdensity lipoprotein levels. We speculate that women with dyslipidemia and higher baseline blood pressure tend to develop pre-eclampsia during pregnancy. Hence, the development of pre-eclampsia may be a 'marker' of possible future cardiovascular or metabolic disease.

No abstract

No abstract