The genetics of pre-eclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy Williams, Paula J., PhD; Broughton Pipkin, Fiona, DPhil
Baillière's best practice & research. Clinical obstetrics & gynaecology/Baillière's best practice and research in clinical obstetrics and gynaecology,
08/2011, Letnik:
25, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Hypertension is the most frequent medical complication occurring during pregnancy. In this chapter, we aim to address the genetic contribution to these disorders, with specific focus on ...pre-eclampsia. The pathogenic mechanisms underlying pre-eclampsia remain to be elucidated; however, immune maladaptation, inadequate placental development and trophoblast invasion, placental ischaemia, oxidative stress and thrombosis are all thought to represent key factors in the development of disease. Furthermore, all of these components have genetic factors that may be involved in the pathogenic changes occurring. The familial nature of pre-eclampsia has been known for many years and, as such, extensive genetic research has been carried out in this area using strategies that include candidate gene studies and linkage analysis. Interactions between fetal and maternal genotypes, the effect of environmental factors, and epistasis will also be considered.
Despite recent applications of a developmental psychopathology perspective to the perinatal period, these conceptualizations have largely ignored the role that childbirth plays in the perinatal ...transition. Thus, we present a conceptual model of childbirth as a bridge between prenatal and postnatal health. We argue that biopsychosocial factors during pregnancy influence postnatal health trajectories both directly and indirectly through childbirth experiences, and we focus our review on those indirect effects. In order to frame our model within a developmental psychopathology lens, we first describe "typical" biopsychosocial aspects of pregnancy and childbirth. Then, we explore ways in which these processes may deviate from the norm to result in adverse or traumatic childbirth experiences. We briefly describe early postnatal health trajectories that may follow from these birth experiences, including those which are adaptive despite traumatic childbirth, and we conclude with implications for research and clinical practice. We intend for our model to illuminate the importance of including childbirth in multilevel perinatal research. This advancement is critical for reducing perinatal health disparities and promoting health and well-being among birthing parents and their children.
Interest in mindfulness has risen exponentially in recent years, yet it remains unclear whether dispositional mindfulness represents a distinct and valid psychological construct. Mapping ...dispositional mindfulness onto well-established personality constructs is essential for developing and testing theoretical models of mindfulness. The current paper presents a critical review of dispositional mindfulness that examines historical context, operational definitions, measurement, and convergent and discriminant validity across personality domains. It is concluded that dispositional mindfulness: (a) is a multidimensional construct reflecting the focus and quality of attention, (b) appears to exist independently from other forms of mindfulness, such as learned or cultivated mindfulness, and (c) demonstrates associations with well-established personality traits, such as neuroticism and conscientiousness, yet appears to be conceptually unique. Whether dispositional mindfulness should be considered a basic tendency or a characteristic adaptation is fodder for future research. Additionally, research examining specific mechanisms underlying dispositional mindfulness (e.g., cognitive skills, attitudes) is needed to strengthen ongoing construct validation efforts. Researchers are encouraged to capitalize on the growing evidence base and approach DM as a unique individual difference factor strongly rooted in developmental, cognitive, and personality disciplines.
The present study prospectively examined dynamic associations among sleep, emotion dysregulation, and desire to live during the perinatal transition, as it was theorized that these factors may ...contribute to the emergence of postpartum suicide risk.
Ninety-four women ( Mage = 29.2 years; 23.4% Latina) wore wrist actigraphs and completed twice daily surveys for 7 days during the third trimester of pregnancy, 6 weeks postpartum, and 4 months postpartum. Multilevel, change-as-outcome models were built to examine changes in attractor dynamics among sleep, emotion dysregulation, and desire to live, as well as if sleep-emotion dysregulation dynamics differed based on participants' desires to live.
From pregnancy to 6 weeks postpartum, emotion dysregulation ( B = -0.09, p = .032) and desire to live ( B = -0.16, p < .001) exhibited more stable temporal patterns around higher emotion dysregulation and lower desire to live. Compared to women who reported consistently high desires to live, those who experienced fluctuations in their desires to live exhibited lower, more stable sleep efficiency during pregnancy ( B = -0.90, p < .001). At 4 months postpartum, those with fluctuating desires to live exhibited a coupling dynamic whereby low sleep efficiency predicted increases in emotion dysregulation ( B = -0.16, p = .020).
This study was the first to examine nonlinear dynamics among risk factors for postpartum suicide, which may be evident as early as pregnancy and 6 weeks postpartum. Sleep health, in particular, warrants further exploration as a key susceptibility factor in the emergence of postpartum suicide risk.
Open Science Framework ( https://osf.io/qxb75/?view_only=799ffe5c048842dfb89d3ddfebaa420d ).
Immune cells in the placental bed Bulmer, Judith N; Williams, Paula J; Lash, Gendie E
The International journal of developmental biology,
2010, Letnik:
54, Številka:
2-3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Leukocytes are an important component of the human uterine decidua in normal pregnancy. The focus of research has been on the more abundant populations such as the uterine natural killer (uNK) cells ...and macrophages, but more recently interest has also extended to less abundant, but functionally significant populations. Investigation of function in human pregnancy is limited by the scope of in vitro studies and the inability to perform in vivo manipulation of cell populations. Investigation of pathological pregnancy may provide clues to function, although acquisition of samples is limited until after clinical presentation. Investigation of animal models may provide clues to function in humans and this has certainly been the case for the uNK cells. However, human placentation differs substantially from the usual laboratory animal models and any extrapolation to humans from animal studies should be made with this in mind. Considerable advances have been made over the last 25 years but many questions still remain; the next 25 years may provide more answers to the role of the endometrial leukocytes in normal pregnancy, so that further advances can be made in investigation of their role, if any, in pregnancy pathology.
Pregnancy places increased demands on the mother to provide adequate nutrition to the growing conceptus. A number of micronutrients function as essential cofactors for or themselves acting as ...antioxidants. Oxidative stress is generated during normal placental development; however, when supply of antioxidant micronutrients is limited, exaggerated oxidative stress within both the placenta and maternal circulation occurs, resulting in adverse pregnancy outcomes. The present paper summarises the current understanding of selected micronutrient antioxidants selenium, copper, zinc, manganese, and vitamins C and E in pregnancy. To summarise antioxidant activity of selenium is via its incorporation into the glutathione peroxidase enzymes, levels of which have been shown to be reduced in miscarriage and preeclampsia. Copper, zinc, and manganese are all essential cofactors for superoxide dismutases, which has reduced activity in pathological pregnancy. Larger intervention trials are required to reinforce or refute a beneficial role of micronutrient supplementation in disorders of pregnancies.
(1) Examine performance on an objective measure of reward-related cognitive impulsivity (delay discounting) among self-reported habitual short sleepers and medium (i.e. recommended 7-9 hours) length ...sleepers either reporting or not reporting daytime dysfunction; (2) Inform the debate regarding what type and duration of short sleep (e.g. 21 to 24 hours of total sleep deprivation, self-reported habitual short sleep duration) meaningfully influences cognitive impulsivity; (3) Compare the predictive utility of sleep duration and perceived dysfunction to other factors previously shown to influence cognitive impulsivity via delay discounting performance (age, income, education, and fluid intelligence).
We analyzed data from 1190 adults from the Human Connectome Project database. Participants were grouped on whether they reported habitual short (≤6 hours) vs. medium length (7-9 hours) sleep duration and whether they perceived daytime dysfunction using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index.
All short sleepers exhibited increased delay discounting compared to all medium length sleepers, regardless of perceived dysfunction. Of the variables examined, self-reported sleep duration was the strongest predictor of delay discounting behavior between groups and across all 1190 participants.
Individuals who report habitual short sleep are likely to exhibit increased reward-related cognitive impulsivity regardless of perceived sleep-related daytime impairment. Therefore, there is a reason to suspect that these individuals exhibit more daytime dysfunction, in the form of reward-related cognitive impulsivity, than they may assume. Current findings suggest that assessment of sleep duration over the prior month has meaningful predictive utility for human reward-related impulsivity.
Abstract
Study Objectives
Bedtime procrastination, or delays in bedtime not attributable to external obligations, is a behavioral tendency that undermines sleep and is conceptualized as a consequence ...of poor self-regulation. Prior studies investigating the mechanistic role of self-regulation in bedtime procrastination relied on cross-sectional methods and self-reported self-regulation. The present study examined the association between bedtime procrastination and both objective and self-reported executive functioning (EF) as indices of self-regulation, as well as the moderating role of chronotype, using methods that examined these associations at the daily level.
Methods
A total of 273 young adult participants (78% female; Mage = 24.4) completed daily measures of objective EF (i.e., Stroop task), self-reported EF (i.e., self-reported cognitive, behavioral, and emotional regulation difficulties), and bedtime procrastination over 14 days, in addition to measures of chronotype. Multilevel models were constructed to examine the associations between bedtime procrastination and EF, as well as EF-chronotype interactions.
Results
Poorer daily objective EF and self-reported behavioral regulation were associated with greater same-night bedtime procrastination. Additionally, poorer subjective cognitive and emotional regulation were associated with greater average bedtime procrastination across 14 days. Later chronotypes reported greater bedtime procrastination than early chronotypes.
Conclusions
The present study provides support for the association between EF and bedtime procrastination, but finds no evidence for the moderating role of chronotype in this association. Results suggest that some EF processes may be more relevant to bedtime procrastination than others. Current findings have implications for assessment and intervention for this consequential sleep-relevant behavioral tendency.
Graphical abstract
Graphical Abstract
Individual differences in attentional control involve the ability to voluntarily direct, shift, and sustain attention. In studies of the role of attentional control in emotional adjustment, social ...relationships, and vulnerability to the effects of stress, self-report questionnaires are commonly used to measure this construct. Yet, convincing evidence of the association between self-report scales and actual cognitive performance has not been demonstrated. Across 2 independent samples, we examined associations between self-reported attentional control (Attentional Control Scale; ACS), self-reported emotional adjustment, Five-Factor Model personality traits (NEO Personality Inventory-Revised) and performance measures of attentional control. Study 1 examined behavioral performance on the Attention Network Test (ANT; Fan, McCandliss, Sommer, Raz, & Posner, 2002) and the Modified Switching Task (MST; Suchy & Kosson, 2006) in a large sample (n = 315) of healthy young adults. Study 2 (n = 78) examined behavioral performance on standardized neuropsychological tests of attention, including Conner's Continuous Performance Test-II and subtests from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales, Third Edition (WAIS-III; Psychological Corporation, 1997) and Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS; Delis, Kaplan, & Kramer, 2001). Results indicated that the ACS was largely unrelated to behavioral performance measures of attentional control but was significantly associated with emotional adjustment, neuroticism, and conscientiousness. These findings suggest that although self-reported attentional control may be a useful construct, researchers using the ACS should exercise caution in interpreting it as a proxy for actual cognitive ability or performance.
Background
Executive functioning (EF) refers to the set of neurocognitive processes that facilitate novel problem solving, modification of behavior in response to environmental changes, planning and ...generating strategies for complex actions, and ability to override pre-potent behavioral and emotional responses to engage in goal-directed behavior.
Purpose
To provide an overview of research on individual differences in EF and examine the extent to which these individual differences confer risk and resilience for poor stress regulation.
Results
Review of the literature suggests that individual differences in EF are evident at multiple levels of analysis including genotype, endophenotype (e.g., performance on cognitive tasks), and phenotype (e.g., temperament and personality). These individual differences are associated with differential stress exposure, reactivity, recovery, and restorative processes.
Conclusions
A theoretical framework that includes individual differences in EF will inform behavioral medicine research on stress risk and resilience.
PDF
