Decreased Umbilical Artery Compliance and IGF-I Plasma Levels in Infants with Intrauterine Growth Restriction – Implications for Fetal Programming of Hypertension

Placenta ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Burkhardt ◽  
C.M. Matter ◽  
C. Lohmann ◽  
H. Cai ◽  
T.F. Lüscher ◽  
...  
Circulation ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 116 (suppl_16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tilo Burkhardt ◽  
Christian M Matter ◽  
Christine Lohmann ◽  
Hao Cai ◽  
Thomas F Lüscher ◽  
...  

Background : Epidemiological studies link intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) to arterial hypertension in adulthood. Intrauterine stress may induce decreased arterial compliance that persists after birth, thus predisposing the individual for arterial hypertension in adult life. Methods and Results : We compared umbilical arteries from IUGR (n=13, <5 th weight percentile) vs. appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants (n=13) using structural and functional analyses. Vessel wall thickness and stiffness were determined in umbilical artery-derived vessel rings. Vessel wall elastin, the main determinant of arterial elasticity, was quantified by elastin extraction. Cord blood was assayed for growth factors known to modulate vessel wall matrix. IUGR infants had decreased umbilical artery compliance in vivo in terms of an increased resistance-index (P<0.05). In parallel, the vessel wall area of umbilical arteries in the IUGR group was significantly smaller than in the AGA group (2.8 vs. 3.8 mm 2 , P<0.05). Myographic measurements showed that maximal tension [mN/mm] as well as maximal force [mN] were both significantly increased in IUGR arteries compared with AGA arteries (P<0.05). Serum levels of IGF-I, a regulator of elastin synthesis, were significantly lower in IUGR cord blood (P<0.01) than in AGA cord blood. These IGF-I serum levels correlated significantly with maximum tension in umbilical arteries (P<0.01). In parallel, we found a trend to reduced elastin content in the vessel wall of IUGR vessels. Conclusions : IUGR infants possess thinner and stiffer umbilical arteries than AGA infants. Low intrauterine IGF-I serum levels may account for reduced arterial elastin at birth, thereby providing a potential link to arterial hypertension in adulthood.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Ayres ◽  
Marilyn Agranonik ◽  
André Krumel Portella ◽  
Françoise Filion ◽  
Celeste C. Johnston ◽  
...  

Intrauterine growth restriction is associated with increased risk for adult metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease, which seems to be related to altered food preferences in these individuals later in life. In this study, we sought to understand whether intrauterine growth leads to fetal programming of the hedonic responses to sweet. Sixteen 1-day-old preterm infants received 24% sucrose solution or water and the taste reactivity was filmed and analyzed. Spearman correlation demonstrated a positive correlation between fetal growth and the hedonic response to the sweet solution in the first 15 seconds after the offer (r=0.864,P=0.001), without correlation when the solution given is water (r=0.314,P=0.455). In fact, the more intense the intrauterine growth restriction, the lower the frequency of the hedonic response observed. IUGR is strongly correlated with the hedonic response to a sweet solution in the first day of life in preterm infants. This is the first evidence in humans to demonstrate that the hedonic response to sweet taste is programmed very early during the fetal life by the degree of intrauterine growth. The altered hedonic response at birth and subsequent differential food preference may contribute to the increased risk of obesity and related disorders in adulthood in intrauterine growth-restricted individuals.


2004 ◽  
Vol 111 (10) ◽  
pp. 1046-1050 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosario D'Anna ◽  
Giovanni Baviera ◽  
Francesco Corrado ◽  
Alessandra Crisafulli ◽  
Riccardo Ientile ◽  
...  

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