Maternal dietary patterns in pregnancy and fetal growth in Japan: the Osaka Maternal and Child Health Study.

Maternal nutritional status during pregnancy is an important determinant of fetal growth. Although the effects of several nutrients and foods have been well examined, little is known about the relationship of overall maternal diet in pregnancy to fetal growth, particularly in non-Western populations. We prospectively examined the relationship of maternal dietary patterns in pregnancy to neonatal anthropometric measurements at birth and risk of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) birth among 803 Japanese women with live-born, singleton, term deliveries. Maternal diet in pregnancy was assessed using a validated, self-administered diet history questionnaire. Dietary patterns from thirty-three predefined food groups (g/4184 kJ) were extracted by cluster analysis. The following three dietary patterns were identified: the 'meat and eggs' (n 326), 'wheat products', with a relatively high intake of bread, confectioneries and soft drinks (n 303), and 'rice, fish and vegetables' (n 174) patterns. After adjustment for potential confounders, women in the 'wheat products' pattern had infants with the significantly lowest birth weight (P = 0·045) and head circumference (P = 0·036) among those in the three dietary patterns. Compared with women in the 'rice, fish and vegetables' pattern, women in the 'wheat products' pattern had higher odds of having a SGA infant for weight (multivariate OR 5·2, 95 % CI 1·1, 24·4), but this was not the case for birth length or head circumference. These results suggest that a diet high in bread, confectioneries, and soft drinks and low in fish and vegetables during pregnancy might be associated with a small birth weight and an increased risk of having a SGA infant.

[Trichomoniasis].

Trichomonas vaginalis is the most common curable sexually transmitted disease worldwide. In spite of serious health sequelae including facilitation of HIV transmission, PID, and adverse outcomes of pregnancy, it remains an underestimated condition, as a half of female infections and the majority of male infections are asymptomatic. T. vaginalis infection was not restricted in high-risk groups, so screening or empiric treatment of low-risk groups should be considered. To develop diagnostic tests which is valuable like PCR and cheap like wet mount microscopy, and the targeted screening of asymptomatic patients will allow a large understanding of T. vaginalis epidemiology and raises concern about the impact of HIV transmission and female reproductive health. T. vaginalis can no longer be ignored.

Beverage consumption and the prevalence of tooth loss in pregnant Japanese women: the Osaka Maternal and Child Health Study.

Recently, there has been growing interest in the impact of beverage consumption on dental health because changes have occurred in the types and quantities of beverage consumed. This cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between consumption frequencies of various beverages and the prevalence of tooth loss among young adult women. Study subjects were 1002 pregnant Japanese women. Tooth loss was defined as previous extraction of one or more teeth. Dietary habits were evaluated by a validated dietary history questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals of tooth loss. Adjustment was made for age, gestation, parity, cigarette smoking, passive smoking at home and at work, family income, education, changes in diet in the previous one month, season when data were collected and body mass index. Of the 1002 subjects, 256 women had lost one or more teeth. Coffee consumption was independently associated with an increased prevalence of tooth loss. When subjects were divided according to consumption of coffee with or without sugar, an increased prevalence of tooth loss was found only in subjects who consumed coffee without addition of sugar. Compared with the lowest consumption of green tea, the intermediate but not the highest consumption of green tea was associated with an increased prevalence of tooth loss. There was no measurable association of intake of milk, black tea, cola, or 100% fruit juice with the prevalence of tooth loss. The findings suggest that coffee consumption might be associated with an increased prevalence of tooth loss among young adult women.

A pilot study of docetaxel-carboplatin versus paclitaxel-carboplatin in Japanese patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.

BACKGROUND: It has been reported that a docetaxel-carboplatin combination as first-line chemotherapy for ovarian cancer showed a level of progression-free survival similar to that of paclitaxel-carboplatin while reducing neurotoxicity and improving quality of life. We investigated the recommended doses of docetaxel-carboplatin in Japanese patients with ovarian cancer and conducted a comparative study of docetaxel-carboplatin versus paclitaxel-carboplatin. METHODS: Thirty-nine patients with ovarian cancer were enrolled in this study and 38 patients were evaluated. We conducted a dose-escalation study using a docetaxel dose of 70 mg/m(2) and carboplatin AUC 5 and 6. In the comparative study, patients received either docetaxel 70 mg/m(2) and carboplatin AUC 5 or paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) and carboplatin AUC 5. Progression-free survival, survival rate at 2 years, response rate, toxicity, and quality of life were investigated. RESULTS: In the dose-finding study, we determined the recommended doses as docetaxel 70 mg/m(2) and carboplatin AUC 5. In the comparative study, the two arms showed similar progression-free survival. Grade 4 neutropenia occurred more frequently in the docetaxel-carboplatin group (84.6%) than in the paclitaxel-carboplatin group (43.8%), while sensory neurotoxicity was less frequent in the docetaxel-carboplatin group (53.8%) than in the paclitaxel-carboplatin (68.8%) group. There were significant differences in the quality-of-life data in favor of docetaxel-carboplatin. CONCLUSION: We determined the recommended doses of docetaxel-carboplatin for Japanese patients with ovarian cancer to be docetaxel 70 mg/m(2) and carboplatin AUC 5. In the comparative study, we suggest that the docetaxel-carboplatin combination is effective and well tolerated as first-line chemotherapy for Japanese patients with ovarian cancer.

[Evaluation of the new nucleic acid amplification system for direct detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in women].

The performance of a real-time DNA amplification assay, BD ProbeTec ET System (BDPT, BD Diagnostic Systems), to detect Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae on endocervical and oropharyngeal samples was evaluated. After obtaining informed consent, 364 endocervical, 363 urine and 247 oropharyngeal specimens were collected from 307 cases. The overall agreement rate of the BDPT and Amplicor (AMP, Roche) assays for the detection of C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae in endocervical samples was 99.2% (361/364) for C. trachomatis and 99.5% (362/364) for N. gonorrhoeae. Assay of oropharyngeal swabs by the BDPT yielded 21 C. trachomatis positives, and 19 of them were C. trachomatis negative by the DNA probe assay (Gen-Probe PACE). The AMP assay showed that 16/19 (84.2%) of the BDPT +/DNA probe - samples were positive. The BDPT also yielded 21 N. gonorrhoeae positives, 15 of which were negative with the DNA probe. Additional testing showed that all 15 BDPT +/DNA probe - samples were positive by the established nested PCR method. Our data suggest that the performance of the BDPT is comparable to that of AMP for detection of C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae in endocervical swab samples and that it may be a useful method for detecting of C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae in oropharyngeal samples clinically.

Effect of female sex steroids on human endometrial CD16neg CD56bright natural killer cells.

OBJECTIVE: To clarify whether female sex steroids directly affect the bioactivity of the human endometrial CD16neg CD56bright natural killer (NK) cells. DESIGN: In vitro study. SETTING: University obstetrics and gynecology department. PATIENT(S): Thirteen women with histologically normal endometrium who were undergoing hysterectomy and seven women during the first trimester of pregnancy who were undergoing selective termination. INTERVENTION(S): Endometrium or decidua was obtained. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The effects of 17beta-estradiol or progesterone (10(-6), 10(-7), and 10(-8) M) on the proliferation, cytolytic activity, and cytokine secretion of the isolated endometrial CD16neg CD56bright NK cells were examined using a 3H-thymidine incorporation assay, 51Cr-releasing assay, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. RESULT(S): Neither 17beta-estradiol nor progesterone had significant effects on the proliferation, cytolytic activity, and cytokine secretion of endometrial CD16neg CD56bright NK cells. CONCLUSION(S): Female sex steroids do not directly affect the bioactivity of the human endometrial CD16neg CD56bright NK cells.