Birth, Distress and Disease: Placental-Brain Interactions

by Edited by Michael L. Power , Jay Schulkin

• ISBN13: 9780521182676
• ISBN10: 0521182670
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-12-02
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This volume examines the role of steroids and peptides in the regulation of pregnancy and pregnancy outcome, as well as their long-term effects. During pregnancy the placenta acts as a central regulator and coordinator of maternal and fetal physiology, and at the onset of labor, through its production and regulation of steroids and peptides. Perturbations to this regulatory system can result in poor pregnancy outcome, such as preterm birth and low birth weight. The induction and suppression of peptides by steroids appears to be key to regulatory function in both brain and placenta.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Brain and Placenta: Birth and Behavior: Health and Disease

Placental expression of neurohormones and other neuroactive molecules in human pregnancy

The regulation of human parturition

Maternal nutrition and metabolic control of pregnancy

Fetal HPA activation, preterm birth and postnatal programming

Prenatal glucocorticoids and the programming of adult disease

Prenatal stress and stress physiology influences human fetal and infant development

Glucocorticoid regulation of neuropeptide gene expression in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus

Glucocorticoid facilitation of corticotropin-releasing hormone in the placenta and the brain: functional impact on birth and behavior

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