To examine the role of total mercury (T-Hg) in placenta as a biomarker of prenatal mercury (Hg) exposure and determine the association between prenatal Hg exposure and risk for neural tube defects (NTDs) in offspring.
 
  Total Hg concentrations in placental tissue were detected in 408 NTD cases and 593 healthy controls enrolled in Shanxi province in northern China. Methylmercury (MeHg) and T-Hg were also detected in the umbilical cord of 147 NTD cases and 140 healthy controls. In addition, MeHg and T-Hg were detected in fetal kidney, liver, and brain tissues of 51 NTD cases. Spearman's rank correlation (r
  ) was used to evaluate the correlations between placental T-Hg and T-Hg in umbilical cord and fetal kidney, liver, and brain tissues. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to compare T-Hg amounts between case and control groups. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between placental T-Hg and risk for NTDs.
 
  Placental T-Hg was significantly correlated with T-Hg in umbilical cord (r
  =0.479), kidney (r
  =0.718), liver (r
  =0.656), and brain (r
  =0.512) tissues (all p<0.001). The median (25th percentile-75th percentile) concentration for placental T-Hg in the NTD case group was 8.91 (5.00-17.1) ng/g dry weight (d.w.), significantly higher than that in the healthy control group (4.99 [3.26-7.93] ng/g d.w., p<0.001). After adjusting for potential confounders, higher levels of T-Hg in placenta were associated with increased risk for NTDs in offspring (OR=1.76, 95% CI 1.13-2.76), and a dose-response relationship was found (p<0.001).
 
  The concentration of T-Hg in placenta is a good biomarker for estimating prenatal Hg exposure, which is associated with increased risk for NTDs.
 The concentration of T-Hg in placenta is a good biomarker for estimating prenatal Hg exposure, which is associated with increased risk for NTDs.
  Obstructed labor is a major cause of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality mainly in low-income countries, particularly in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, the prevalence and determinant factors of obstructed labor described by different studies were highly inconsistent.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/almorexant-hcl.html  Therefore, this study aimed to determine the pooled prevalence and determinants of obstructed labor in Ethiopia.
 
  International databases (PubMed, Hinari, Google scholar, Cochrane library, and web of science) and Ethiopian universities' digital libraries were used to search relevant articles. Both cross-sectional and case control studies were included. A total of 15 studies were included in this study. All the necessary data were extracted by two authors independently using Microsoft excel and exported to STATA Version 11 for analysis. Heterogeneity of the studies was assessed by using I
  test. The funnel plot and Egger's test were used to assess publication bias between the studies. The pooled prevalence of obstructed labor was estimated uesentation and macrosomia should be recognized and intervene early during labor and delivery.
 The overall prevalence of obstructed labor was high in Ethiopia. Maternal age between 15-19 years, malpresentation, lack of Ante Natal Care follow-up and fetal Wight ≥4kg were determinants of obstructed labor. Hence, this study implies the need to develop plans and policies to improve Ante Natal Care follow and labor and delivery management at each level of the health system. Besides to this, fetal malpresentation and macrosomia should be recognized and intervene early during labor and delivery.Lipid metabolic abnormalities have emerged as potential risk factors for the development and progression of diabetic complications, including diabetic retinopathy (DR). This review article provides an overview of the results of clinical trials evaluating the potential benefits of lipid-lowering drugs, such as fibrates, omega-3 fatty acids, and statins, for the prevention and treatment of DR. Although several clinical trials demonstrated that treatment with fibrates leads to improvement of DR, there is a dissociation between the protective effects of fibrates in the retina, and the intended blood lipid classes, including plasma triglycerides, total cholesterol, or HDLLDL cholesterol ratio. Guided by these findings, plasma lipid and lipoprotein-independent mechanisms are addressed based on clinical, cell culture, and animal model studies. Potential retinal-specific effects of fatty acid oxidation products, cholesterol, and ceramide, as well as lipid-independent effects of PPAR alpha activation, are summarized based on the current literature. Overall, this review highlights promising potential of lipid-based treatment strategies further enhanced by the new knowledge of intraretinal lipids and lipoproteins in DR.Carotid atherosclerosis is a risk factor for ischemic stroke, one of the main causes of mortality and disability worldwide. The disease is characterized by plaques, heterogeneous deposits of lipids, and necrotic debris in the vascular wall, which grow gradually and may remain asymptomatic for decades. However, at some point a plaque can evolve to a high-risk plaque phenotype, which may trigger a cerebrovascular event. Lipids play a key role in the development and progression of atherosclerosis, but the nature of their involvement is not fully understood. Using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging, we visualized the distribution of approximately 200 different lipid signals, originating of >90 uniquely assigned species, in 106 tissue sections of 12 human carotid atherosclerotic plaques. We performed unsupervised classification of the mass spectrometry dataset, as well as a histology-directed multivariate analysis. These data allowed us to extract the spatial lipid patterns associated with morphological plaque features in advanced plaques from a symptomatic population, revealing spatial lipid patterns in atherosclerosis and their relation to histological tissue type. The abundances of sphingomyelin and oxidized cholesteryl ester species were elevated specifically in necrotic intima areas, whereas diacylglycerols and triacylglycerols were spatially correlated to areas containing the coagulation protein fibrin. These results demonstrate a clear colocalization between plaque features and specific lipid classes, as well as individual lipid species in high-risk atherosclerotic plaques.