Maternal diet during pregnancy is relevant for fatty acid supply during fetal life and lactation. Arachidonic (AA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids are also relevant for the normal growth and ...development of brain and visual system. AA and DHA provided by the mother to the fetus and infant are directly associated with maternal dietary intake and body stores. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of maternal diet, specially referring to the quality of fatty acid intake, in a sample of Chilean women during last stage of pregnancy and across the lactation period. Fifty healthy pregnant women (age range 20⁻33 years) were studied from the 6th month of pregnancy and followed until 6th month of lactation period. Diet characteristics were evaluated through food frequency questionnaires. Fatty acids composition of erythrocyte phospholipids and breast milk samples was assessed by gas-liquid chromatography. Overall, women had high saturated fatty acids intake with sufficient intake of mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Diet was high in
-6 PUFA and low in
-3 PUFA (mainly DHA), with imbalanced
-6/
-3 PUFA ratio. Erythrocytes and breast milk DHA concentration was significantly reduced during lactation compared to pregnancy, a pattern not observed for AA. We concluded that is necessary to increase the intake of
-3 PUFA during pregnancy and lactation by improving the quality of consumed foods with particular emphasis on its DHA content.
Pregnancy comes with various challenges for glaucoma patients.
First of all, alterations and fluctuations in intra‐ocular pressure may occur not only during pregnancy but also during delivery. The ...clinical impact of these IOP changes in pregnant women with glaucoma will be discussed.
Secondly, medical therapy needs to be scrutinized and if necessary adjusted to avoid toxic effects to the fetus. Also during lactation, this aspect must be taken into account. The different classes of glaucoma medications will be discussed in this aspect and finally a potential therapeutic strategy for pregnant and lactating women will be proposed.
Also, the role of lasertrabeculoplasty and surgery will be highlighted and practical guidance will be given for these specific situations.
Lastly, the general recommendations from the Guidelines of the European Glaucoma Society for the management of women with glaucoma during pregnancy and lactation will be summarized.
Many applications of the Simulation, Analysis and Modeling software use data on the fraction of an orally administered tracer dose (FD) in plasma; thus, researchers must scale-up measured analyte ...concentration to the total plasma pool. For studies in lactating women, estimating breast milk pool size is challenging.
The objectives were to determine whether the standard vitamin A modeling approach using FD data could be modified to use vitamin A specific activity in milk (SAm) and/or plasma (SAp) for compartmental analysis of vitamin A kinetics and status in theoretical lactating women.
Using 12 previously studied theoretical subjects with a wide range of assigned values for vitamin A total body stores (TBS) and the coefficient (“FaS”) needed to predict TBS using a retinol isotope dilution equation, we simulated data for SAp and SAm for 49 d after oral administration of labeled vitamin A. Then we modeled datasets for SAp and SAm, as well as only SAp or SAm, incorporating a linear scaling factor to automatically convert SA to FD and including several physiologically reasonable constraints as input data. As outcomes, we compared model-predicted TBS and FaS to assigned values.
Scaling factors effectively adjusted SA data to adequately predict vitamin A mass in plasma and breast milk pools. Data for SAp and SAm provided model predictions of TBS that were comparable to assigned values (range: 85–107%); using only SAp, ratios ranged from 92% to 108% and for SAm from 85% to 108%. Parallel results were obtained for simulated FaS.
Results show that SA data from plasma and/or milk can be used directly for modeling vitamin A during lactation in theoretical subjects, providing accurate estimates of TBS and FaS. Results suggest that, in free-living lactating women, researchers might measure only SAp or only SAm and adequately describe whole-body vitamin A metabolism and status.
In early lactation, dairy cows typically have a negative energy balance which has been related to metabolic disorders, compromised health and fertility, and reduced productive lifespan. Assessment of ...the energy balance, however, is not easy on the farm. Our aims were to investigate the milk metabolic profiles of dairy cows in early lactation, and to obtain models to estimate energy balance from milk metabolomics data and milk production traits. Milk samples were collected in week 2 and 7 after calving from 31 dairy cows. For each cow, the energy balance was calculated from energy intake, milk production traits and body weight. A total of 52 milk metabolites were detected using LC-QQQ-MS. Data from different lactation weeks was analysed by partial least squares analysis, the top 15 most relevant variables from the metabolomics data related to energy balance were used to develop reduced linear models to estimate energy balance by forward selection regression. Milk fat yield, glycine, choline and carnitine were important variables to estimate energy balance (adjusted R
: 0.53 to 0.87, depending on the model). The relationship of these milk metabolites with energy balance is proposed to be related to their roles in cell renewal.
Adequate nutrition is essential during the lactation period for better maternal and child health outcomes. Although food insecurity and dietary monotony (defined as less diverse diet), two important ...determinants of undernutrition, are endemic in the rural mountains of Nepal, insufficiently examined and assessed for risk factors in mothers during lactation, a life stage of high nutritional demand. This study aimed to assess the status and factors associated with food insecurity and dietary diversity among lactating mothers residing in the mountains of Nepal.
A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in an urban municipality in the mountainous Bajhang District of far-western Nepal. The sampling frame and strategy led to 417 randomly selected lactating mothers. Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and the tool "Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women" developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization were used to measure food insecurity and dietary diversity, respectively. Additional information on socio-demographics and risk factors were collected. Multivariable logistics regression assessed correlates of study outcomes.
Overall, 54% of the households were food insecure, and over half (53%) of the mothers had low dietary diversity. Food insecurity status (mild food insecurity AOR = 10.12, 95% CI = 4.21-24.34; moderate food insecurity AOR = 8.17, 95% CI = 3.24-20.59, and severe food insecurity AOR = 10.56, 95% CI = 3.92-28.43) were associated with higher odds of dietary monotony. Likewise, participants with lower dietary diversity were 8.5 times more likely to be food insecure than those with higher dietary diversity (AOR = 8.48, 95% CI = 3.76-19.14). The monthly income of the family was positively associated with food insecurity. Participants' (AOR = 3.92 95%CI = 1.76-8.71) or spouses' (AOR = 2.90, 95% CI = 1.07-7.85) unemployment was associated with higher odds of being food insecure. Likewise, owning a cultivable land (AOR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.28-0.84) and participant's unemployment status (AOR = 5.92, 95% CI = 3.02-11.63), were significantly associated with increased odds of dietary monotony.
The observed food insecurity and poor dietary diversity among lactating mothers, the correlates associated with these outcomes, may help local stakeholders to identify local health needs and subgroups for targeted interventions. Socioeconomically disadvantaged mothers should be specifically targeted for relevant programs and policies.
Lactation persistency and milk production are among the most economically important traits in the dairy industry. In this study, we explored the association of over 6.1 million imputed whole-genome ...sequence variants with lactation persistency (LP), milk yield (MILK), fat yield (FAT), fat percentage (FAT%), protein yield (PROT), and protein percentage (PROT%) in North American Holstein cattle. We identified 49, 3991, 2607, 4459, 805, and 5519 SNPs significantly associated with LP, MILK, FAT, FAT%, PROT, and PROT%, respectively. Various known associations were confirmed while several novel candidate genes were also revealed, including
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, and
for LP;
,
,
,
,
, and
for MILK;
,
,
, POL
,
, and
for FAT;
,
, and the KCN gene family for FAT%;
,
,
, and
for PROT; and
,
,
,
, and
for PROT%. Most of these genes are involved in relevant gene ontology (GO) terms such as fatty acid homeostasis, transporter regulator activity, response to progesterone and estradiol, response to steroid hormones, and lactation. The significant genomic regions found contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms related to LP and milk production in North American Holstein cattle.
Background
Induced lactation and relactation are the processes that enable breastfeeding in non-gestating mothers.
Research aim
The aim of this study was to describe and interpret the challenges ...faced by mothers who undergo induced breastfeeding and relactation for adopted infants, infants born via surrogacy, and infants born to same-sex female partners.
Methods
A qualitative study was performed using in-depth interviews conducted with Spanish women (N = 9) who had decided to undergo induced lactation or relactation. The data were collected between October 2014 and May 2017. The length of the study was due to the difficulty in locating and recruiting the sample. Interviews were transcribed and coded with the ATLAS.ti v.7.5.7 software. We performed a deductive thematic analysis, creating categories based on the interview questions, which we developed on the basis of previous literature about induced lactation and relactation.
Results
Participants described the following challenges: the physical hardships of the process; breastfeeding problems; difficulty with accessing information about induced lactation or relactation; and lack of support from health professionals. Breastfeeding periods lasted from 1.5 months to 4 years. Participants reported that breastfeeding increased the closeness between the mother and child and that this feeling of closeness tended to decrease after breastfeeding cessation.
Conclusion
We offer data and analysis that can improve our understanding of the lived experiences of women undergoing the process of relactation or induced lactation and may help guide intervention strategies to support women in this situation.
Summary
Almost a quarter of patients with PAO will sustain a subsequent fracture; patients need to be informed about potential risks before deciding for further pregnancies.
Introduction
Pregnancy ...and lactation-associated osteoporosis (PAO) is a severe type of premenopausal osteoporosis which predominantly occurs in the last trimester of pregnancy or immediately postpartum. Long-term follow-up data including subsequent fracture risk have yet to be reported.
Methods
This single-center prospective cohort study investigated the subsequent fracture risk of all 107 patients with PAO who were referred to our institution.
Results
Overall, 107 presented with at least one fracture. Each patient sustained on average four fractures most commonly at the thoracolumbar spine. During a median of 6 years of follow-up, 26 (24.3%) of patients who had a fracture at baseline reported a subsequent fracture. Overall, 30 PAO patients (28%) reported a further pregnancy. In subsequent pregnancies, 6 (20%) of patients reported a subsequent fracture. Patients with up to 1 vs. > 1 fracture at time of diagnosis showed a 3 (10%) and 25 (27%) subsequent fracture rate, respectively (
p
= 0.047). There was a significant correlation between the number of fractures at time of diagnosis and subsequent fracture risk (
N
= 26,
p
= 0.56,
p
= 0.003).
Conclusions
Almost a quarter of patients with PAO will sustain a subsequent fracture, and this fracture risk correlates with the number of fractures at time of diagnosis. Patients with PAO need to be informed about their potential subsequent fracture risk before deciding for further pregnancies.
During pregnancy and parturition, female dogs have to cope with various challenges such as providing nutrients for the growth of the fetuses, hormonal changes, whelping, nursing, milk production, and ...uterine involution. Metabolomic research has been used to characterize the influence of several factors on metabolism such as inter- and intra-individual factors, feeding, aging, inter-breed differences, drug action, behavior, exercise, genetic factors, neuter status, and pathologic processes. Aim of this study was to identify metabolites showing specific changes in blood serum at the different phases of pregnancy and lactation. In total, 27 privately owned female dogs of 21 different breeds were sampled at six time points: during heat, in early, mid and late pregnancy, at the suspected peak of lactation and after weaning. A validated and highly automated canine-specific NMR metabolomics technology was utilized to quantitate 123 measurands. It was evaluated which metabolite concentrations showed significant changes between the different time points. Metabolites were then grouped into five clusters based on concentration patterns and biochemical relationships between the metabolites: high in mid-pregnancy, low in mid-pregnancy, high in late pregnancy, high in lactation, and low in lactation. Several metabolites such as albumin, glycoprotein acetyls, fatty acids, lipoproteins, glucose, and some amino acids show similar patterns during pregnancy and lactation as shown in humans. The patterns of some other parameters such as branched-chain amino acids, alanine and histidine seem to differ between these species. For most metabolites, it is yet unstudied whether the observed changes arise from modified resorption from the intestines, modified production, or metabolism in the maternal or fetal tissues. Hence, further species-specific metabolomic research may support a broader understanding of the physiological changes caused by pregnancy that are likely to be key for the normal fetal growth and development. Our findings provide a baseline of normal metabolic changes during healthy canine pregnancy and parturition. Combined with future metabolomics findings, they may help monitor vital functions of pre-, intra-, and post-partum bitches and may allow early detection of illness.
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are now proven as essential regulatory elements, playing diverse roles in many biological processes including mammary gland development. However, little is known about ...their roles in the bovine lactation process.
To identify and characterize the roles of lncRNAs in bovine lactation, high throughput RNA sequencing data from Jersey (high milk yield producer), and Kashmiri cattle (low milk yield producer) were utilized. Transcriptome data from three Kashmiri and three Jersey cattle throughout their lactation stages were utilized for differential expression analysis. At each stage (early, mid and late) three samples were taken from each breed. A total of 45 differentially expressed lncRNAs were identified between the three stages of lactation. The differentially expressed lncRNAs were found co-expressed with genes involved in the milk synthesis processes such as GPAM, LPL, and ABCG2 indicating their potential regulatory effects on milk quality genes. KEGG pathways analysis of potential cis and trans target genes of differentially expressed lncRNAs indicated that 27 and 48 pathways were significantly enriched between the three stages of lactation in Kashmiri and Jersey respectively, including mTOR signaling, PI3K-Akt signaling, and RAP1 signaling pathways. These pathways are known to play key roles in lactation biology and mammary gland development.
Expression profiles of lncRNAs across different lactation stages in Jersey and Kashmiri cattle provide a valuable resource for the study of the regulatory mechanisms involved in the lactation process as well as facilitate understanding of the role of lncRNAs in bovine lactation biology.
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