Dataset Information

Associations between fetal size, sex and placental angiogenesis in the pig.

ABSTRACT: Inadequate fetal growth cannot be remedied postnatally, leading to severe consequences for neonatal and adult development. It is hypothesized that growth restriction occurs due to inadequate placental vascularization. This study investigated the relationship between porcine fetal size, sex, and placental angiogenesis at multiple gestational days (GD). Placental samples supplying the lightest and closest to mean litter weight (CTMLW), male and female Large White X Landrace fetuses were obtained at GD30, 45, 60, and 90. Immunohistochemistry revealed increased chorioallantoic membrane CD31 staining in placentas supplying the lightest compared to those supplying the CTMLW fetuses at GD60. At GD90, placentas supplying the lightest fetuses had decreased CD31 staining in the chorioallantoic membrane compared to those supplying the CTMLW fetuses. The mRNA expression of six candidate genes with central roles at the feto-maternal interface increased with advancing gestation. At GD60, ACP5 expression was increased in placentas supplying the lightest compared to the CTMLW fetuses. At GD45, CD31 expression was decreased in placentas supplying the lightest compared to the CTMLW fetuses. In contrast, CD31 expression was increased in placentas supplying the lightest compared the CTMLW fetuses at GD60. In vitro endothelial cell branching assays demonstrated that placentas supplying the lightest and male fetuses impaired endothelial cell branching compared to placentas from the CTMLW (GD45 and 60) and female fetuses (GD60), respectively. This study has highlighted that placentas supplying the lightest and male fetuses have impaired angiogenesis. Importantly, the relationship between fetal size, sex, and placental vascularity is dynamic and dependent upon the GD investigated.

SUBMITTER: Stenhouse C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6335214 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Associations between fetal size, sex and placental angiogenesis in the pig.

Stenhouse Claire C Hogg Charis O CO Ashworth Cheryl J CJ

Biology of reproduction 20190101 1

Inadequate fetal growth cannot be remedied postnatally, leading to severe consequences for neonatal and adult development. It is hypothesized that growth restriction occurs due to inadequate placental vascularization. This study investigated the relationship between porcine fetal size, sex, and placental angiogenesis at multiple gestational days (GD). Placental samples supplying the lightest and closest to mean litter weight (CTMLW), male and female Large White X Landrace fetuses were obtained a ...[more]

PMID: 30137229

Similar Datasets

Project description:Appropriate placental transport of calcium is essential for normal fetal skeletal mineralization. In fetal growth restriction (FGR), the failure of a fetus to achieve its growth potential, a number of placental nutrient transport systems show reduced activity but, in the case of calcium, placental transport is increased. In a genetic mouse model of FGR this increase, or adaptation, maintains appropriate fetal calcium content, relative to the size of the fetus, despite a small, dysfunctional placenta. It is unknown whether such an adaptation is also apparent in small, but normally functioning placentas. We tested the hypothesis that calcium transfer would be up-regulated in the lightest vs. heaviest placentas in the same C57Bl/6J wild-type (WT) mouse litter. Since lightest placentas are often from females, we also assessed whether fetal sex influenced placental calcium transfer. Placentas and fetuses were collected at embryonic day (E)16.5 and 18.5; the lightest and heaviest placentas, and female and male fetuses, were identified. Unidirectional maternofetal calcium clearance (CaKmf) was assessed following 45Ca administration to the dam and subsequent radiolabel counts within the fetuses. Placental expression of calcium pathway components was measured by Western blot. Data (median) are lightest placenta expressed as percentage of the heaviest within a litter and analyzed by Wilcoxon signed-rank test. In WT mice having normally grown fetuses, CaKmf, per gram placenta near term, in the lightest placentas was increased (126%; P < 0.05) in association with reduced fetal calcium accretion earlier in gestation (92%; P < 0.05), that was subsequently normalized near term. Increased placental expression of calbindin-D9K, an important calcium binding protein, was observed in the lightest placentas near term (122%; P < 0.01). There was no difference in fetal calcium accretion between male and female littermates but a trend toward higher CaKmf in females (P = 0.055). These data suggest a small, normal placenta adapts calcium transfer according to its size, as previously demonstrated in a mouse model of FGR. Fetal sex had limited influence on this adaptive increase. These adaptations are potentially driven by fetal nutrient demand, as evidenced by the normalization of fetal calcium content. Understanding the regulatory mechanisms involved may provide novel avenues for treating placental dysfunction.

Project description:Background: Placental malaria (PM) has been associated with a higher risk of malaria during infancy. However, it is unclear whether this association is causal, and is modified by infant sex, and whether intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) can reduce infant malaria by preventing PM.Methods: Data from a birth cohort of 656 infants born to HIV-uninfected mothers randomised to IPTp with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) or Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) was analysed. PM was categorized as no PM, active PM (presence of parasites), mild-moderate past PM (>?0-20% high powered fields [HPFs] with pigment), or severe past PM (>?20% HPFs with pigment). The association between PM and incidence of malaria in infants stratified by infant sex was examined. Causal mediation analysis was used to test whether IPTp can impact infant malaria incidence via preventing PM.Results: There were 1088 malaria episodes diagnosed among infants during 596.6 person years of follow-up. Compared to infants born to mothers with no PM, the incidence of malaria was higher among infants born to mothers with active PM (adjusted incidence rate ratio [aIRR] 1.30, 95% CI 1.00-1.71, p?=?0.05) and those born to mothers with severe past PM (aIRR 1.28, 95% CI 0.89-1.83, p?=?0.18), but the differences were not statistically significant. However, when stratifying by infant sex, compared to no PM, severe past PM was associated a higher malaria incidence in male (aIRR 2.17, 95% CI 1.45-3.25, p?<?0.001), but not female infants (aIRR 0.74, 95% CI 0.46-1.20, p?=?0.22). There were no significant associations between active PM or mild-moderate past PM and malaria incidence in male or female infants. Male infants born to mothers given IPTp with DP had significantly less malaria in infancy than males born to mothers given SP, and 89.7% of this effect was mediated through prevention of PM.Conclusion: PM may have more severe consequences for male infants, and interventions which reduce PM could mitigate these sex-specific adverse outcomes. More research is needed to better understand this sex-bias between PM and infant malaria risk. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02793622. Registered 8 June 2016, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02793622.

Dataset Information

Associations between fetal size, sex and placental angiogenesis in the pig.

Publications

Associations between fetal size, sex and placental angiogenesis in the pig.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets