Elevated Testosterone Reduces Uterine Blood Flow, Spiral Artery Elongation, and Placental Oxygenation in Pregnant Rats.

ABSTRACT: Elevated maternal testosterone levels are shown to cause fetal growth restriction, eventually culminating in sex-specific adult-onset hypertension that is more pronounced in males than in females. In this study, we tested whether uteroplacental and fetoplacental disturbances underlie fetal growth restriction and if these changes vary in male and female placentas. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with vehicle (n=16) or testosterone propionate (0.5 mg/kg per day from gestation day 15-19; n=16). On gestation day 20, we quantified uterine artery blood flow using microultrasound, visualized placental arterial network using x-ray microcomputed tomography, determined fetoplacental hypoxia using pimonidazole and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α, and used Affymetrix array to determine changes

SUBMITTER: Gopalakrishnan K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4752400 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature