Of the model fitted on the full dataset (n = 176), obtained from the backward selection procedure outlined in the text. Covariates considered but not retained were: maternal age, marital status, smoking, body mass index and storage time. Coefficients of the model (additive on the log scale) were exponentiated to multiplicative factors, allowing interpretation on the concentration scale. Sample age = time delay between blood sampling and processing. CI, confidence interval; PTB, Docosahexaenoyl ethanolamide chemical information preterm birth; ROM, rupture of the membranes. R2 = 0.28. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0056050.tSerum sTREM-1 in Laborinformation could be obtained on the presence of intra amniotic infection in patients with PPROM or PTL and sTREM-1 levels in serum and amniotic fluid could not be compared, since amniocentesis is not routinely performed in patients with preterm labor. Finally, sTREM-1 concentrations were measured only once upon admission. Evaluation of the time-course of plasma sTREM1 levels during sepsis showed that a progressive decline in sTREM1 concentration was associated with a favorable clinical evolution [36]. It would be interesting to investigate the clinical informative value of repeated determinations of serum sTREM-1 in hospitalized patients with preterm labor. In conclusion, we found elevated sTREM-1 concentrations in maternal serum during spontaneous parturition (either term or preterm) and sTREM-1 levels were significantly higher in women with preterm labor. Further studies are required to explore the roleof sTREM-1 in the inflammatory response during pregnancy and labor.AcknowledgmentsWe thank Mr. Alain Visscher, Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Stat-Gent CRESCENDO, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University. We gratefully acknowledge the residents and midwives for collecting the blood samples.Author ContributionsContributed to the interpretation of the data: HV BS BV RV. Revised the article: HV BV MV RV MT. Provided statistical support: OD. Read and approved the final manuscript: IT HV BS BV MV OD RV MT. Conceived and designed the experiments: HV MV RV MT IT. Performed the experiments: BS. Analyzed the data: IT. Wrote the paper: IT.
The regulation of food intake, energy storage and energy expenditure are tightly controlled by complex homeostatic mechanisms. These involve buy LED-209 conveying information about total body nutritional and energy 25331948 status, as well as the presence of nutrients in the gut lumen and the circulation, to the central nervous system (CNS), notably via the release of hormones from the gut and adipose tissue. The CNS, in turn, initiates the transcription and release of neuropeptides in the hypothalamus and brainstem, which then modulate feeding and metabolism in order to maintain energy homeostasis [1?]. Gut and adipose tissue-derived hormones may increase or decrease appetite. Satiety inducing gut hormones are released in response to food intake, and mediate rapid regulation of appetite [4], whilst insulin from the pancreas, and leptin, the circulating levels of which increase with increasing fat mass, are involved in long-term regulation of energybalance [5]. In disease states, other regulatory molecules have also been identified that may have an 
important role in 
regulating energy homeostasis. One such molecule is MIC-1/GDF15 [6], an unusual and divergent member of the TGF-b superfamily, sometimes known as GDF15, PLAB, NAG-1 or PTGFB [6?]. We have previously demonstrated that this cytokine is an important cause of the anor.Of the model fitted on the full dataset (n = 176), obtained from the backward selection procedure outlined in the text. Covariates considered but not retained were: maternal age, marital status, smoking, body mass index and storage time. Coefficients of the model (additive on the log scale) were exponentiated to multiplicative factors, allowing interpretation on the concentration scale. Sample age = time delay between blood sampling and processing. CI, confidence interval; PTB, preterm birth; ROM, rupture of the membranes. R2 = 0.28. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0056050.tSerum sTREM-1 in Laborinformation could be obtained on the presence of intra amniotic infection in patients with PPROM or PTL and sTREM-1 levels in serum and amniotic fluid could not be compared, since amniocentesis is not routinely performed in patients with preterm labor. Finally, sTREM-1 concentrations were measured only once upon admission. Evaluation of the time-course of plasma sTREM1 levels during sepsis showed that a progressive decline in sTREM1 concentration was associated with a favorable clinical evolution [36]. It would be interesting to investigate the clinical informative value of repeated determinations of serum sTREM-1 in hospitalized patients with preterm labor. In conclusion, we found elevated sTREM-1 concentrations in maternal serum during spontaneous parturition (either term or preterm) and sTREM-1 levels were significantly higher in women with preterm labor. Further studies are required to explore the roleof sTREM-1 in the inflammatory response during pregnancy and labor.AcknowledgmentsWe thank Mr. Alain Visscher, Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Stat-Gent CRESCENDO, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University. We gratefully acknowledge the residents and midwives for collecting the blood samples.Author ContributionsContributed to the interpretation of the data: HV BS BV RV. Revised the article: HV BV MV RV MT. Provided statistical support: OD. Read and approved the final manuscript: IT HV BS BV MV OD RV MT. Conceived and designed the experiments: HV MV RV MT IT. Performed the experiments: BS. Analyzed the data: IT. Wrote the paper: IT.
The regulation of food intake, energy storage and energy expenditure are tightly controlled by complex homeostatic mechanisms. These involve conveying information about total body nutritional and energy 25331948 status, as well as the presence of nutrients in the gut lumen and the circulation, to the central nervous system (CNS), notably via the release of hormones from the gut and adipose tissue. The CNS, in turn, initiates the transcription and release of neuropeptides in the hypothalamus and brainstem, which then modulate feeding and metabolism in order to maintain energy homeostasis [1?]. Gut and adipose tissue-derived hormones may increase or decrease appetite. Satiety inducing gut hormones are released in response to food intake, and mediate rapid regulation of appetite [4], whilst insulin from the pancreas, and leptin, the circulating levels of which increase with increasing fat mass, are involved in long-term regulation of energybalance [5]. In disease states, other regulatory molecules have also been identified that may have an important role in regulating energy homeostasis. One such molecule is MIC-1/GDF15 [6], an unusual and divergent member of the TGF-b superfamily, sometimes known as GDF15, PLAB, NAG-1 or PTGFB [6?]. We have previously demonstrated that this cytokine is an important cause of the anor.
