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Epidermal growth factor (EGF) concentrations in urine and plasma samples collected from pregnant women and neonates were measured by RIA. The EGF concentration of the first voided urine was higher in appropriate-for-date (AFD) neonates (33.9 ± 23.0 ng/mg creatinine) than in those with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR; 23.5 ± 7.7 ng/mg creatinine, p < 0.05) and heavy-for-date (19.8 ± 5.2 ng/mg creatinine, p < 0.05) neonates. The urinary EGF concentration of pregnant women showed no marked changes throughout pregnancy. Urinary EGF concentrations of women with AFD fetuses (45.9 ± 31.2 ng/mg creatinine) did not differ significantly from those of women with diabetes (39.9 ± 26.8 ng/mg creatinine) or women with multiple fetuses (44.6 ± 30.6 ng/mg creatinine). However, women with IUGR fetuses showed lower urinary EGF concentrations (13.8 ± 7.4 ng/mg creatinine, p < 0.05) than women with AFD fetuses. Maternal and fetal platelet poor plasma EGF concentrations at delivery were lower in the IUGR group (mother: 2.62 ± 0.38 ng/ml, fetus: 2.16 ± 0.07 ng/ml, respectively, p < 0.05 and p < 0.005) than in the AFD group (mother: 3.34 ± 0.64 ng/ml, fetus: 3.24 ± 0.93 ng/ml). In the IUGR group, the EGF concentration in fetal blood was always lower than that in maternal blood (p < 0.05), although the AFD group showed no such difference. These data suggest that EGF levels are closely related to fetal growth.

The micro-and nanosize surface topography of dental implants has been shown to affect the growth of surrounding cells. in this study, standardized and controlled periodic nanopatterns were fabricated with nanosized surface roughness on titanium substrates, and their influence on bone marrow stromal cells investigated. Cell proliferation assays revealed that the bare substrate with a 1.7 nm surface roughness has lower hydrophilicity but higher proliferation ability than that with a 0.6 nm surface roughness. further, with the latter substrate, directional cell growth was observed for line and groove patterns with a width of 100 nm and a height of 50 or 100 nm, but not for those with a height of 10 or 25 nm. With the smooth substrate, time-lapse microscopic analyses showed that more than 80% of the bone marrow cells on the line and groove pattern with a height of 100 nm grew and divided along the lines. As the nanosized grain structure controls the cell proliferation rate and the nanosized line and groove structure (50-100 nm) controls cell migration, division, and growth orientation, these standardized nanosized titanium structures can be used to elucidate the mechanisms by which surface topography regulates tissue responses to biomaterials.