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Biomedical subjects

J MacVicar

Publications and source records attributed to J MacVicar.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Birthweight of babies born to mothers with type 1 diabetes: is it related to blood glucose control in the first trimester?

A retrospective study of 133 pregnancies in women with Type 1 diabetes was performed, and the 116 which progressed beyond 28 weeks were further analysed. Despite good maternal blood glucose control (mean (+/- SE) HbA1 levels 8.6 +/- 0.2% at the end of the first trimester; 6.9 +/- 0.2% at delivery; normal range 4.0-8.5%), 38% of babies had birthweights above the 90th centile and operative intervention occurred in 77 deliveries (66%). There was no significant correlation between birthweight and HbA1 level at any stage of pregnancy, but mothers with babies above the 90th centile for weight had a higher HbA1 at the end of the first trimester than mothers with babies below the 90th centile (9.3 +/- 0.5 vs 7.9 +/- 0.2%, p less than 0.05). In contrast there was no difference in the HbA1 levels at delivery (7.0 +/- 0.3 vs 6.8 +/- 0.2%). The perinatal mortality rate was 17.7 per 1000 births. The results confirm that in Type 1 diabetes large babies are common despite good blood glucose control, and suggest that maternal blood glucose control in the first trimester may be an important determinant of birthweight.

Birth Weight↗
PubMed1989

Serum from pregnant women carrying a fetus with neural tube defect is teratogenic for rat embryos in culture.

Sera from 13 pregnant women carrying a fetus with a neural tube defect, and from 13 control women with normal pregnancies at the same stage of gestation were used in the culture of postimplantation rat embryos. Serum from women with normal pregnancies had no adverse effect on rat embryo growth and development. Serum from 10 of the women with affected fetuses had a deleterious effect on the rat embryos as abnormalities of neural tube closure were observed in 28% of the conceptuses compared to only 1.3% of the embryos cultured in control serum.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Asian mothers' risk factors for perinatal death--the same or different? A 10 year review of Leicestershire perinatal deaths.

A case-control study of all perinatal deaths in Leicestershire was established in 1976. By 1985 some 1342 singleton perinatal deaths had occurred. Perinatal mortality among patients of Asian origin was consistently higher than that among European women. Many of the sociomedical risk factors for perinatal death known at booking were common to both population groups. In this population of Asian women, however, low social class was not associated with perinatal risk and illegitimacy hardly ever occurred. In contrast, previous infertility among the Asian women was associated with risk of perinatal death, while no such association was found with European women. In 19% of perinatal deaths care was either inadequately provided or taken up. The case-control design in these circumstances provides a practicable way to evaluate causal factors and at the same time to provide information of value to educators and health service planners.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Immunohistological localization of pregnancy-associated endometrial alpha 2-globulin (alpha 2-PEG) in endometrial adenocarcinoma and effect of medroxyprogesterone acetate.

Endometrium from postmenopausal women with endometrial adenocarcinoma was examined immunohistochemically using a monoclonal antibody to pregnancy-associated endometrial alpha 2-globulin (alpha 2-PEG), the major secretory protein of the glandular epithelium during the late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and early pregnancy. Specimens were obtained at initial diagnostic curettage and at hysterectomy after medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) therapy. alpha 2-PEG was not detected in any malignant tissue irrespective of histological differentiation. Non-malignant endometrium obtained in association with malignant tissue was negative for alpha 2-PEG before treatment although after MPA therapy all specimens obtained exhibited marked alpha 2-PEG localization in glands. In four specimens endogenous alkaline phosphatase was observed consistently only in the malignant endometrium. Malignant endometrium does not appear to synthesize alpha 2-PEG nor is its synthesis induced by an oral progestogen, so that it does not represent a useful marker for endometrial carcinoma. Non-malignant endometrium in postmenopausal women appears to be fully capable of alpha 2-PEG production after stimulation with an oral progestogen.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1976

The natural history of bacterial colonization of the newborn in a maternity hospital (Part II).

The object of this study was to determine the sources from which the newborn infant derives his bacterial flora during the first 5 days after birth. Detailed bacteriological data was obtained from 193 mothers antenatally and during labour, and from their infants on the day of birth and on Day 5. Organisms were typed by appropriate methods and the 193 mother-baby pairs declared to be a 'match' or a 'non-match' according as to whether or not identical bacteria were isolated from both members of the pair. Weekly swabs from hands and noses of staff were taken throughout the 12 months of the study. Swabs were also taken from the environment and air samples from different areas in the hospital. In approximately one third of infants the colonizing bacteria are derived from their mothers, in over 70 per cent of instances from the mother's rectum. The mother's birth canal is not a common source of bacteria and there is no direct relationship with the noses or hands of staff. Artificial feeds are not a source of the colonizing bacteria. The overall distribution of the bacterial species in the infants differed from that found in the hospital environment but this does, none the less, constitute a reservoir of bacteria which is being continually replenished from human sources. Pathogens such as Staph, aureus and Strep. pyogenes are no longer commonly found in newborn infants in the modern maternity hospital, but the need for continual vigilance and an efficient bacteriological service in all maternity units has been in no way diminished.

Air Microbiology↗