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Introduction: Preeclampsia can lead to a number of adverse maternal and perinatal effects. The association between iron status [serum iron, ferritin and total iron-binding capacity (TIBC)], unsaturated iron-binding capacity, hepcidin, interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels and preeclampsia is not fully understood. Objective: To assess the levels of iron status, hepcidin and interleukin-6 in women with preeclampsia compared with healthy pregnant women. Method: A case-control study (60 women were recruited in each group) was conducted at Saad Abuelela Maternity Hospital in Khartoum, Sudan. Sociodemographic and clinical data were gathered through a questionnaire. The levels of iron status, hepcidin and IL-6 were measured using applicable methods. Results: There was no significant difference in the median [interquartile range (IQR)] of age, parity or body mass index between the two groups. Moreover, the median (IQR) of the iron status, hepcidin and interleukin-6 did not differ between women with preeclampsia and healthy controls. There were no significant correlations between haemoglobin, hepcidin and IL-6. There were also no significant correlations between serum iron, serum ferritin, hepcidin and IL-6. However, there was a significant positive correlation between hepcidin and IL-6 (r = 0.393, p = 0.002). Conclusion: In this study, women with preeclampsia had levels of iron status, hepcidin and IL-6 similar to those observed in healthy pregnant women. There was no significant correlation between iron status, hepcidin and IL-6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physiological and biochemical changes during normal pregnancy may precipitate a state of insulin resistance (IR) without disrupting the body's physiology. The present study aimed to investigate the association between the indices of insulin sensitivity and blood pressure among normotensive and euglycemic pregnant women. The present cross-sectional study was conducted between February and December, 2021. It comprised 133 normal pregnant women who were non-diabetic and had normal blood pressure. The oral glucose tolerance test and fasting insulin levels were assessed, and the indices of insulin sensitivity and β-cell function were computed between the 24th and 28th weeks of gestation. A multivariate linear regression analysis was conducted to investigate the factors affecting systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels, including the indices of insulin sensitivity, β-cell function and others. Univariate linear analysis revealed that fasting insulin levels (β=0.95, P=0.027), the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI; β=-24.39, P=0.012) and diastolic blood pressure (β=0.76, P<0.001) were associated with systolic blood pressure. Of note, parity (β=0.83, P=0.031), fasting insulin levels (β=0.63, P=0.010), homeostasis model assessment of IR (HOMA-IR; β=3.19, P=0.013) and QUICKI (β=-11.97, P=0.029) were the factors that were associated with diastolic blood pressure. In the multivariate linear regression analysis, neither fasting insulin, nor QUICKI were found to be associated with systolic blood pressure. Fasting insulin levels (β=0.48; P=0.040), HOMA-IR (β=2.51; P=0.043) were associated with diastolic blood pressure. On the whole, in the present study, fasting insulin levels and HOMA-IR were associated with diastolic blood pressure levels without the emergence of high blood pressure readings or gestational diabetes. Further studies with a longitudinal approach are warranted to further identify associations with IR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Azolla is a group of aquatic floating plants that can achieve very high growth rates compared to other aquatic macrophytes, with a doubling time of 2–5 days under optimal growing conditions. The ability of Azolla to grow at such rapid rates allows for the opportunity of utilizing it as a method to sequester a significant amount of atmospheric CO2 in the form of biomass, which can be locked away to completely remove the carbon from the active carbon cycle, or which can be used in various applications such as animal feeds, biofertilizers, and biofuel production, which in turn will contribute to reduction in the fossil CO2 emissions. In this desktop study, the potential use of Azolla for mitigating the annual increase in the atmospheric CO2 levels was addressed, which were estimated at 18.9 billion tons of CO2 per year. A theoretical setup of 1-ha ponds was assessed to estimate the total Azolla growing area required for counterbalancing the annual atmospheric CO2 increase. Each 1-ha pond was found capable of capturing 21,266 kg of CO2 (C) per year. The calculated required total area to mitigate the total annual increase was estimated to be 1,018,023 km2 (equivalent to around a fifth of the Amazon forest area). Sensitivity analysis, which was based on the variations in the productivity of Azolla due to growing conditions, indicated that the required area would range between 763,518 and 1,527,036 km2. This study provides a novel natural method for CO2 sequestration that has lower environmental impacts compared to conventional sequestration technologies as an alternative green approach for mitigating the effects of fossil fuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a corrigendum published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology. It corrects an error in the keywords of an article titled "Maternal serum iron status, hepcidin and interleukin-6 levels in women with preeclampsia." The error was the use of "IL-6" instead of "interleukin-6" as a keyword. The authors apologize for the mistake and clarify that it does not affect the scientific conclusions of the article. The corrigendum also includes information about the publisher's note, open access, and contact information for correspondence. [Extracted from the article]

Abstract Background Maternal cytomegalovirus (CMV) and rubella infections have adverse neonatal outcomes. Basic epidemiological data concerning CMV and rubella is necessary for health planners and care providers. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted at El-Rahad hospital, Sudan to investigate seroprevalence of CMV and rubella infections and associated possible risk factors among pregnant women. Structured questionnaires were used to gather socio-demographic data and ELISA was used to detect CMV and rubella infections using IgG and IgM. Results Out of 231 pregnant women, 167 (72.2%) and 151 (65.3%) were CMV-IgG and rubella-IgG positive, respectively. Only 6 (2.5%) and 8 women (3.4%) were CMV-IgM and rubella-IgM positive, respectively. While, high parity (OR = 14.7, 95%CI = 1.7 - 123.6; P = 0.01] and illiteracy (OR = 3.0, CI = 1.4 - 6.5; P = 0.004) were significantly associated with seropostive CMV-IgG in multivariate analysis, none of the other obstetrical and medical characteristics were significantly associated with CMV or rubella infections. Conclusion CMV prevalence was 72.2% and rubella susceptibility among pregnant women was 34.6%. Rubella vaccine and routine screening for rubella and CMV should be introduced for pregnant women in this setting. Further research is needed.

Abstract Background Urinary tract infections (UTI) can lead to poor maternal and perinatal outcomes. Investigating epidemiology of UTI and antibiotics sensitivity among pregnant women is fundamental for care-givers and health planners. Methods A cross sectional study has been conducted at Khartoum north teaching hospital Antenatal Care Clinic between February-June 2010, to investigate epidemiology of UTI and antibiotics resistance among pregnant women. Structured questionnaires were used to gather data from pregnant women. UTI was diagnosed using mid stream urine culture on standard culture media Results Out of 235 pregnant women included, 66 (28.0%) were symptomatic and 169 (71.9%) asymptomatic. the prevalence of bacteriuria among symptomatic and asymptomatic pregnant women were (12.1%), and (14.7%) respectively, with no significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.596), and the overall prevalence of UTI was (14.0%). In multivariate analyses, age, gestational age, parity, and history of UTI in index pregnancy were not associated with bacteriuria. Escherichia coli (42.4%) and S. aureus (39.3%) were the commonest isolated bacteria. Four, 2, 2, 3, 4, 2 and 0 out of 14 E. coli isolates, showed resistance to amoxicillin, naladixic acid, nitrofurantoin, ciprofloxacin, co-trimoxazole, amoxicillin/clavulanate and norfloxacin, respectively Conclusion Escherichia coli were the most prevalent causative organisms and showing multi drug resistance pattern, asymptomatic bacteriuria is more prevalent than symptomatic among pregnant women. Urine culture for screening and diagnosis purpose for all pregnant is recommended.