[Some indicators of lineal and craniofacial proportionality in newborn infants]. / Algunos indicadores de proporcionalidad lineal y craneofacial en el recién nacido.

Looking for intersexual differences in size and lineal and craniofacial proportionality, assumed to be secondary to genetic induction, non-distorted by environmental factors, we studied 200 newborns from families who were residents in proletarian zones, parents with very similar education and employment (qualified workers). We chose 15 size measurements from which we derived 23 ratios and 15 craniofacial measurements with four key indices. Significant but discrete intersexual differences were found in height and in cranial circumference, and larger differences in leg, foot, forearm and arm length; there were no differences in the proportionality indices. In eight of the 10 craniofacial measurements there were intersexual differences, but not on the ratios derived from them. We conclude that as an expression of genetic induction (accepting "size" as a phenomenon of accumulated growth, and the "ratios" of development or differentiation) what we found confirms other studies that point out that when a boy is born, he is bigger in size but less developed than the girl.

Immunoglobulin levels in maternal and neonatal sera from normal and abnormal pregnancies.

IgG, IgM and albumin levels in sera from neonates with open neural tube defects (NTD), other congenital malformations, and matched controls were measured, as were levels in sera from their mothers. Neonates with NTD had significantly lower serum IgG levels than 22 control neonatal sera. On the other hand, the mothers of these neonates with NTD had elevated serum IgG levels resulting in a striking imbalance in the mother/neonate IgG ratio. In contrast to IgG, IgM levels in maternal and neonatal sera from the NTD group were within normal values. The maternal albumin levels were however significantly increased reflecting hemoconcentration. In sera from 3 neonates born with other congenital malformations (hydrocephaly, caudal appendage and sacral tumor) the only significant changes were higher IgM levels and lower mother/neonate IgM ratios. These results are discussed in the context of materno-fetal immune responses, placental transfer of plasma proteins and the possible involvement of immunoglobulins in fetal malformation.

Hormone release by primary amniotic fluid cell cultures.

Amniotic fluid cells have been widely used in prenatal diagnosis; however, there is great heterogeneity of the cells and their origin. In this study we analyze the karyotype and release of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), human chorionic somatomammotropin (hCS), free estriol (E 3), prolactin (PRL) and progesterone (P) of amniotic fluid cells from primary cultures of six normal and two anencephalic fetuses. In all the amniotic fluid samples there was release of hCG; in one amniotic fluid, in which several tetraploid colonies were found. PRL and P were also released. The heterogeneity of amniotic fluid cell morphology and their hormone release in culture was confirmed. The presence of hormones like hCG supports the trophoblastic origin of some amniotic fluid cells from normal and anencephalic fetuses. Other hormones, such as PRL and P could be used in the differential diagnosis between the karyotype of fetal membranes and the true fetal karyotype. Amniotic fluid cell cultures used in prenatal diagnosis yielded second trimester placental cells without any elaborate methods that could be used as cell models for hormone studies.

Amniotic fluid macrophages from normal and malformed fetuses.

Amniotic fluid cells from normal and abnormal fetuses (neural tube defects and abdominal wall lesions) were examined uncultured and after short-term culture for macrophages. Morphology, adherence, phagocytosis, presence of Fc receptors and non-specific esterase were studied. The existence of macrophages in normal and abnormal fluids was confirmed, although the percentage and the absolute numbers varied greatly from specimen to specimen. The most marked increases in total macrophages were in cases of anencephaly. The significance of these macrophages and their value in prenatal diagnosis are discussed.

Analysis of normal and abnormal amniotic fluid cells in vitro by cinemicrography.

Time-lapse cinemicrography has been used to study cell behaviour and movement in long- and short-term amniotic fluid cultures from various types of fetus. These included several with a neural tube defect (9 anencephalics, 5 spina bifidas, 2 encephaloceles), 1 with an abdominal wall lesion (omphalocele) and 9 controls with no open lesion. In short-term (less than 3 days) amniotic fluid cultures from normal fetuses, non-adherent squamous cells dominate, but there is a small population of cells which, in the longer term (approximately 4 weeks), will form colonies of epithelioid and fibroblastic cells. In addition, there is a further group, called 'AF' by Hoehn et al. (1974), which have the ability to form syncitial strands and are often multinucleated; these cells seem to be trophoblastic in origin. In contrast to the controls, short-term anencephalic cultures contained many adherent cells; these were mainly latex-particle-phagocytosing macrophages and neural cells. In long-term cultures, the neural cells dominate and differentiate into a range of recognizable forms whose type and behaviour seem to depend on cell density, time in culture and extent of cell-cell contacts. In the spina bifida and encephalocele cultures, there were initially far fewer adherent cells than in the anencephalic ones, but, after approximately 2 weeks in vitro, a range of neural cell types could be recognized in addition to those seen in the controls. In the context of prenatal diagnosis, the presence of neural cells certainly indicates that the fetus has a NTD, but the difficulty of standardizing culture conditions implies that any differential diagnosis on the basis or morphology and movement will be difficult. If, as seems likely, the AF cells of Hoehn et al. (1974) are indeed trophoblastic, amniotic fluids from the second trimester may provide a useful source of these cells.

Cell morphology in long-term cultures of normal and abnormal amniotic fluids.

The cell morphology of long-term cultures of amniotic fluid cells from 10 fetuses with a neural tube defect (NTD) and three with omphalocele was examined and compared to 30 long-term cultures of normal amniotic fluids as well as a long-term culture of human fetal brain. Cultures from the amniotic fluids of the fetuses with NTD and omphalocele showed cells with the same general characteristics as normal amniotic fluid cells. However, the cultures of amniotic fluid cells from NTD pregnancies had an additional cell type also seen in fetal brain culture. This was a neuroblast-like cell, with small rounded refractile morphology and long branching processes forming clusters of varying sizes which lay on top of large flat cells. These neuroblast-like cells diminished in number with time in culture and were not present in subcultures. Their possible neuronal origin is discussed.