Erythropoietin http://www.selleckchem.com/products/dorsomorphin-2hcl.html is a glycoprotein hormone involved in the regulation of erythropoiesis during fetal and adult life. The only known stimulus for production of erythropoietin is decreased partial oxygen pressure [1]. Hypoxia stimulates the production of erythropoietin in the fetal liver and adult kidney [1, 5�C7]. Erythropoietin does not cross the placenta, and umbilical cord blood erythropoietin is of fetal origin. Increased umbilical cord erythropoietin levels are evidence of chronic fetal hypoxia [8, 9] and have been associated with fetal morbidity and mortality [1, 2, 4, 10, 11]. Elevated plasma erythropoietin occurs in pregnancies complicated by fetal growth retardation, meconium, diabetes, preeclampsia, isoimmunization, and smoking [1].

This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of maternal smoking on umbilical cord plasma erythropoietin levels as a measure of chronic intrauterine hypoxia. We hypothesized that maternal smoking may cause fetal hypoxia which may cause elevated erythropoietin levels, that is, having a compansatuar effect on blood gas oxygenization values.2. MethodsThis study was a prospective study performed on 60 neonates between November 2009 and April 2010 in a tertiary care center. History of maternal smoking was present with 20 of these neonates. The nonsmoking and smoking mothers had similar mean age (Table 1), and smoking mothers consumed an average of 9 �� 3 cigarettes per day for 6 �� 2 months during the pregnancy.

The criteria for inclusion in the study included (1) uncomplicated pregnancy; (2) absence of history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, infection, or any medication during pregnancy; (3) vaginal delivery; (4) minimum Apgar score of 8 at 1st and Carfilzomib 5th minutes; (5) clear amniotic fluid; (6) gestational age of 37 to 42 weeks according to the last day of menstruation and ultrasonographic evaluation; (7) weight compatible with gestational age (between 10th and 90th percentiles); (8) smoked prior to pregnancy and continued smoking during pregnancy. The nonsmoking group were not exposed to secondary smoking. There were no multiple births. Written informed consent was obtained from the mother. This study was approved by the local ethical committee and conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki.Table 1Relation between maternal smoking and neonatal characteristics.* After delivery, a segment of the umbilical cord was clamped and venous cord blood samples were immediately transferred into tubes containing heparin. The serum was separated by centrifugation (4000rpm for 5 minutes) and stored (?20��C) for 1 month.