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Study Links Depressive Mood, Racial Disparities In Preterm Birth
Women who have depression symptoms prior to becoming pregnant are at an increased risk for having preterm births, with the risk twice as high for black women as for white women, according to a study in the Journal of Women"s Health, Reuters reports. For the study, Amelia Gavin of the University of Washington and colleagues examined the links between race, preterm birth and pre-pregnancy depressive mood among 555 women. The study used data collected from 1990-1996 as part of a larger, long-term investigation of heart disease risk.Researchers determined that 18.1% of the 249 black women in the study gave birth prior to 37 weeks" gestation, compared with 8.5% of the 306 white women in the study. The study also found that 9.4% of black women had pre-pregnancy symptoms of depressive mood, compared with 7.2% of white women. After researchers accounted for other factors associated with preterm birth, such as body weight and sociodemographic characteristics, black women"s risk remained more than twice that of white women.Gavin said, "The black-white disparity in preterm birth may be in part a consequence of different exposures to depressive mood prior to pregnancy." She said, "Reproductive outcomes must be viewed in light of women"s health over the entire life-course, as well as during pregnancy," adding that the study"s results suggest that "the experience of cumulative health disadvantages or "weathering"" might play a role in increased risk for preterm birth (Hendry, Reuters, 6/25).

European Urology July Issue Reviews Prostate Screening Studies
The July issue of European Urology, the official journal of the European Association of Urology, features an editorial by Lars Holmberg comparing the results from the European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) with the results from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) In the editorial, Professor Holmberg writes that "The studies illustrate that the price to pay for 20% reduction in prostate cancer deaths is high; overdiagnosis and overtreatment are great problems. The answers lie in improving the PSA test or finding biomarkers that effectively separate aggressive cancers from slow-growing ones. We identify some priorities in the discussion about PSA testing."
News of the day
CSL Biotherapies Starts Shipment Of Seasonal Influenza Vaccine For The 2009-2010 Flu Season
CSL Biotherapies, a subsidiary of one of the world"s leading manufacturers of thimerosal-free seasonal influenza vaccine, announced that it has begun shipment of its seasonal influenza virus vaccine to a national network of U.S. distributors for the 2009-2010 season. CSL Biotherapies plans to deliver more than eight million doses of the vaccine, the majority of which will be in single-dose, thimerosal-free, pre-filled syringes.
Endocrinology

Stopping Harmful Oral Bacteria In Their Path

The best way to keep bacteria from doing any damage is to stop them in their tracks before they can start down their pathological road to destruction. Yiping Han, associate professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine, aims to understand how to build roadblocks for a common bacterium that"s harmless in a mother"s mouth but can turn deadly when it reaches an unborn child. She has received a five-year, $1.85 million grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) at the National Institutes of Health to fund the effort. This is Han"s second NIDCR RO1 award. She"s published more than 10 papers from previous research related to the bacterium, Fusobacterium nucleatum, that creates havoc once it leaves the mouth and enters the blood stream. She has discovered an adhesin protein molecule, called FadA, in the genes of F. nucleatum. This adhesin, or binding agent, on the bacteria allows them to connect with receptors on epithelial cells in the mouth and later the endothelial cells of the placenta. In tests, bacteria without FadA had less binding capability compared to those with the adhesin, Han and a team of researchers report on this finding in the July issue of the journal Infection and Immunity. "With this new grant, we will be able to continue a functional analysis of FadA," said Han. Her research group will look not only at the binding agent but the receptors on the host epithelial and endothelial cells that promote the binding of the oral bacteria. "In some way, the receptors on the host cell activate a signal that puts into action a cascade of processes that allow the bacteria to penetrate the epithelial and endothelial linings and then colonize," explains Han. "We want to block the bacteria before it can do any damage," Han says. "It"s an upstream approach to go back to where the whole process begins and stop it from starting its destruction." Once it leaves the mouth, the invasion of the bacteria through the placenta allows the bacteria to multiple rapidly in the immune-free environment that protects the fetus from being rejected by the mother"s body. The rapid bacterial growth causes the placenta to become inflamed. In turn, the inflammation can trigger preterm birth and fetal death. According to Han this research into the mechanisms of bacterial transport not only has potential to prevent preterm and stillborn births, it may have implications in preventing periodontal disease. Periodontal disease has been linked to such health problem as arthritis, diabetes and heart disease. Case Western Reserve University


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