Imaging of activated complement using ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide particles (USPIO) - conjugated vectors: an in vivo in utero non-invasive method to predict placental insufficiency and abnormal fetal brain development
In the current study, we have developed a magnetic resonance imaging-based method for non-invasive detection of complement activation in placenta and foetal brain in vivo in utero. Using this method, we found that anti-complement C3-targeted ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) nanoparticles bind within the inflamed placenta and foetal brain cortical tissue, causing a shortening of the T2* relaxation time. We used two mouse models of pregnancy complications: a mouse model of obstetrics antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and a mouse model of preterm birth (PTB). We found that detection of C3 deposition in the placenta in the APS model was associated with placental insufficiency characterised by increased oxidative stress, decreased vascular endothelial growth factor and placental growth factor levels and intrauterine growth restriction. We also found that foetal brain C3 deposition was associated with cortical axonal cytoarchitecture disruption and increased neurodegeneration in the mouse model of APS and in the PTB model. In the APS model, foetuses that showed increased C3 in their brains additionally expressed anxiety-related behaviour after birth. Importantly, USPIO did not affect pregnancy outcomes and liver function in the mother and the offspring, suggesting that this method may be useful for detecting complement activation in vivo in utero and predicting placental insufficiency and abnormal foetal neurodevelopment that leads to neuropsychiatric disorders.Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, 23 September 2014; doi:10.1038/mp.2014.110.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 10. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 27 April 2016.
All research outputs
#2,934,005
of 22,764,165 outputs
Outputs from Molecular Psychiatry
#1,882
of 4,094 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#34,159
of 251,975 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Molecular Psychiatry
#40
of 56 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,764,165 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 86th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,094 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 37.3. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 53% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 251,975 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 86% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 56 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 28th percentile – i.e., 28% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
