Intravenous administration of arginine to twin-bearing ewes enhances birth weight and peri-renal fat stores of female offspring in sheep

2013 ◽  
pp. 405-406
Author(s):  
S. McCoard ◽  
F. Sales ◽  
N. Wards ◽  
Q. Sciascia ◽  
M. Oliver ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Birth Weight ◽  
Intravenous Administration ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Fat Stores

Placental insufficiency induces a sexually dimorphic response in the expression of cardiac growth and metabolic signalling molecules upon exposure to a postnatal western diet in guinea pigs

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Jack R.T. Darby ◽  
Jacky Chiu ◽  
Timothy R.H. Regnault ◽  
Janna L. Morrison
Keyword(s):  
Birth Weight ◽  
Mrna Expression ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Postnatal Life ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Fibrotic Response ◽  
Cardiac Growth ◽  
Signalling Molecules ◽  
Secondary Insult ◽  
Obesogenic Diet

Abstract There is a strong relationship between low birth weight (LBW) and an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). In postnatal life, LBW offspring are becoming more commonly exposed to the additional independent CVD risk factors, such as an obesogenic diet. However, how an already detrimentally programmed LBW myocardium responds to a secondary insult, such as an obesogenic diet (western diet; WD), during postnatal life is ill defined. Herein, we aimed to determine in a pre-clinical guinea pig model of CVD, both the independent and interactive effects of LBW and a postnatal WD on the molecular pathways that regulate cardiac growth and metabolism. Uterine artery ablation was used to induce placental insufficiency (PI) in pregnant guinea pigs to generate LBW offspring. Normal birth weight (NBW) and LBW offspring were weaned onto either a Control diet or WD. At ˜145 days after birth (young adulthood), male and female offspring were humanely killed, the heart weighed and left ventricle tissue collected. The mRNA expression of signalling molecules involved in a pathological hypertrophic and fibrotic response was increased in the myocardium of LBW male, but not female offspring, fed a WD as was the mRNA expression of transcription factors involved in fatty acid oxidation. The mRNA expression of glucose transporters was downregulated by LBW and WD in male, but not female hearts. This study has highlighted a sexually dimorphic cardiac pathological hypertrophic and fibrotic response to the secondary insult of postnatal WD consumption in LBW offspring.

Changes in Maternal Upper Arm Fat Stores Are Predictors of Variation in Infant Birth Weight

1994 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary L. Hediger ◽  
Theresa O. Scholl ◽  
Joan I. Schall ◽  
Mary Frances Healey ◽  
Richard L. Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Birth Weight ◽  
Upper Arm ◽  
Fat Stores ◽  
Infant Birth

Sexually dimorphic effects of maternal alcohol intake and adrenalectomy on left ventricular hypertrophy in rat offspring

2003 ◽  
Vol 285 (1) ◽  
pp. E31-E39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Slone Wilcoxon ◽  
Jeff Schwartz ◽  
Fraser Aird ◽  
Eva E. Redei
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Birth Weight ◽  
Low Birth Weight ◽  
Left Ventricular Hypertrophy ◽  
Ventricular Hypertrophy ◽  
Alcohol Exposure ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Left Ventricular ◽  
Placental Weight ◽  
Mrna Levels

In humans, low birth weight and increased placental weight can be associated with cardiovascular disease in adulthood. Low birth weight and increased placental size are known to occur after fetal alcohol exposure or prenatal glucocorticoid administration. Thus the effects of removing the alcohol-induced increase in maternal corticosterone by maternal adrenalectomy on predictors of cardiovascular disease in adulthood were examined in rats. Alcohol exposure of dams during the last 2 wk of gestation resulted in significantly decreased fetal weight and increased placental weight on gestational day 21. Adult female, but not male, offspring of alcohol-consuming mothers exhibited left ventricular hypertrophy. Placental 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-2 (11β-HSD-2) mRNA levels, measured by Northern blot, were decreased in females but not males. Adrenalectomy of alcohol-consuming dams reversed the increase in placental weight and the decrease in female placental 11β-HSD-2 expression and eliminated the left ventricular hypertrophy of adult female offspring. These data suggest that alcohol-induced changes in placental 11β-HSD-2 mRNA levels and left ventricular weight are coupled in female offspring only and depend on maternal adrenal status.

Effects of Maternal Diabetes on Blood Pressure and Glucose Tolerance in Offspring of Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats: Relation to Birth Weight

1995 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masanori Iwase ◽  
Miya Wada ◽  
Masanori Wakisaka ◽  
Hideyuki Yoshizumi ◽  
Mototaka Yoshinari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Birth Weight ◽  
Glucose Tolerance ◽  
Adult Female ◽  
Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats ◽  
Maternal Diabetes ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Heart Weight ◽  
Hypertensive Rats ◽  
Spontaneously Hypertensive

1. We studied the effects of maternal diabetes on blood pressure and glucose tolerance in the adult female offspring of spontaneously hypertensive rats. 2. Female spontaneously hypertensive rats were rendered diabetic by neonatal streptozotocin treatment, and then were mated with untreated male spontaneously hypertensive rats. Moderately severe hyperglycaemia was maintained during the gestation. 3. The birth weight was significantly lower in the female offspring of the diabetic dams than in the female offspring of the non-diabetic dams. The systolic blood pressure was significantly higher in the offspring from the diabetic dams than that from the control dams at 6 months of age (192 ± 4 mmHg versus 213 ± 4 mmHg, P < 0.01). The heart weight was also significantly increased in the offspring of the diabetic dams. Both the blood pressure and heart weight were inversely related to the birth weight. On the other hand, glucose tolerance was unaffected by maternal diabetes. 4. Maternal diabetes aggravated the severity of hypertension in the adult female offspring of spontaneously hypertensive rats. This suggests the importance of the metabolic environment during fetal growth for the development of hypertension.

scholarly journals Developmental programing: impact of testosterone on placental differentiation

Reproduction ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 148 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
E M Beckett ◽  
O Astapova ◽  
T L Steckler ◽  
A Veiga-Lopez ◽  
V Padmanabhan
Keyword(s):  
Birth Weight ◽  
Insulin Sensitivity ◽  
Low Birth Weight ◽  
Growth Retardation ◽  
Polycystic Ovary ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Metabolic Phenotype ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Insulin Sensitizer ◽  
Testosterone Treatment

Gestational testosterone treatment causes maternal hyperinsulinemia, intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), low birth weight, and adult reproductive and metabolic dysfunctions. Sheep models of IUGR demonstrate placental insufficiency as an underlying cause of IUGR. Placental compromise is probably the cause of fetal growth retardation in gestational testosterone-treated sheep. This study tested whether testosterone excess compromises placental differentiation by its androgenic action and/or via altered insulin sensitivity. A comparative approach of studying gestational testosterone (aromatizable androgen) against dihydrotestosterone (non-aromatizable androgen) or testosterone plus androgen antagonist, flutamide, was used to determine whether the effects of testosterone on placental differentiation were programed by its androgenic actions. Co-treatment of testosterone with the insulin sensitizer, rosiglitazone, was used to establish whether the effects of gestational testosterone on placentome differentiation involved compromised insulin sensitivity. Parallel cohorts of pregnant females were maintained for lambing and the birth weight of their offspring was recorded. Placental studies were conducted on days 65, 90, or 140 of gestation. Results indicated that i) gestational testosterone treatment advances placental differentiation, evident as early as day 65 of gestation, and culminates in low birth weight, ii) placental advancement is facilitated at least in part by androgenic actions of testosterone and is not a function of disrupted insulin homeostasis, and iii) placental advancement, while helping to increase placental efficiency, was insufficient to prevent IUGR and low-birth-weight female offspring. Findings from this study may be of relevance to women with polycystic ovary syndrome, whose reproductive and metabolic phenotype is captured by the gestational testosterone-treated offspring.

101 PLACENTAL DEVELOPMENT IN A BOVINE HETEROSIS MODEL

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 131 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Fitzsimmons ◽  
Z. Kruk ◽  
D. Lines ◽  
C. Roberts ◽  
S. Hiendleder
Keyword(s):  
Birth Weight ◽  
Umbilical Cord ◽  
Fetal Growth ◽  
Growth Regulation ◽  
Reciprocal Cross ◽  
Allantoic Fluid ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Hybrid Vigor ◽  
Fetal Weight ◽  
Placental Development

Heterosis or hybrid vigor is a biological phenomenon referring to the phenotypic superiority of hybrids over their parents. Despite its economic importance, the mechanisms of heterosis are still poorly understood. Reciprocal cross Brahman (B) � Angus (A) calves display significant heterosis in birth weight, but this effect is almost entirely due to the dramatic fetal overgrowth observed in Brahman male � Angus female offspring. The reciprocal is much less affected and similar to purebred Brahman calves (Brown et al. 1993 J. Anim. Sci. 71, 3273–3279). We have generated a defined A � A (n = 20), B � A (n = 21), A � B (n = 13), and B � B (n = 15; male parent listed first) day 153 (term = 280) fetal/placental resource from artificially inseminated, estrous cycle synchronized heifers to identify components and mechanisms of heterotic fetal growth regulation. An ANOVA showed that full uterus weight (P < 0.001), fetal weight (P = 0.01), umbilical cord length (P = 0.003) and weight (P = 0.04), placenta fetalis weight (P < 0.001), total caruncle weight (P = 0.002), empty uterus weight (P < 0.001), and combined amniotic/allantoic fluid weight (P < 0.001) were significantly affected by the 4 genetic groups after adjustment for fetal sex and dam weight where required. The weight of reciprocal hybrid fetuses was intermediate to the purebred fetuses and thus did not display heterosis defined as the difference between reciprocal cross and parental means. Full uterus weight and combined amniotic/allantoic fluid weight, in contrast, displayed heterosis of 6.6% (P = 0.02) and 9.0% (P = 0.01). As in neonate calves, the heterosis effects were due to the B � A group. The t-tests demonstrated that full uterus weight in B � A was significantly greater (19.84 � 0.43 kg) than in A � B (16.23 � 0.47 kg; P < 0.001), A � A (17.41 � 0.35 kg; P < 0.001), and B � B (16.76 � 0.49 kg; P = 0.001) crosses. Combined amniotic/allantoic fluids were 12.58 � 0.31 kg in B � A as compared to 10.93 � 0.39 kg in A � B (P = 0.001), 10.75 � 0.29 kg in A � A (P < 0.001), and 11.48 � 0.36 kg in B � B (P = 0.02) crosses. We found similar superiority of the B � A group for parameters that did not fulfil the formal heterosis criterion. These include umbilical cord, placenta fetalis, empty uterus, and total caruncle weights. All but 1 of these (combined amniotic/allantoic fluid weight) were significantly correlated (r = 0.43–0.70; P < 0.001) with fetal weight. We conclude that massive changes in placental parameters underly and precede the heterosis effects in birth weight observed in Brahman � Angus crosses. Although formally designated heterosis, placental and fetal overgrowth is present in only 1 of the hybrids (B � A). This natural overgrowth phenotype is clearly distinct from the early onset overgrowth phenotypes observed after IVF and nuclear transfer cloning (Hiendleder et al. 2004 Biol. Reprod. 71, 217–223) and will be useful in the dissection of factors contributing to fetal growth and development.

Effectiveness of selection for growth rate in Zebu × British crossbred cattle. II.* Post-weaning growth and genetic estimates

1975 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1093 ◽  
Author(s):  
GW Seifert
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Birth Weight ◽  
Average Daily Gain ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
High Birth Weight ◽  
Environmental Correlations ◽  
Final Weight ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Daily Gain

The response to one generation of selection for weight per day of age at 18 months (W/Af), in Africander cross (AX) and Brahman cross (BX) cattle, was evaluated in the female offspring of the up and down selected parents. The high W/A< line gained significantly more than the low line over a year from weaning. The advantage of the high W/A line occurred during flush nutritional periods. The realized heritability (h2) of W/Af at 18 months was 0.52, while the estimates of h2 from mid-parental means computed within sires was higher. Heritability estimates for birth weight (Wb), weaning weight per day of age (W/Aw), pre-weaning average daily gain (Gbw) and total average daily gain from birth to final weight (Gt) were all high, while the estimate for post-weaning average daily gain from weaning to final weight (Gpw) was low. The correlated responses of all the traits were high. The genetic correlations estimated from the response and the parent-offspring regressions were all positive and high. Birth weight was the most highly correlated with Gt. All phenotypic correlations were positive but lower than the genetic correlations, the correlation between Gbw and Gpw being the lowest. Environmental correlations between birth weight and pre-weaning traits were essentially zero, and between birth weight and post-weaning traits and Gt, negative. Weight per day of age at 18 months appeared to be the most efficient and practical single trait to select beef cattle for increased growth rate.

Maternal pelvic size, fetal growth and risk of stroke in adult offspring in a large Swedish cohort

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Heshmati ◽  
M. P. Chaparro ◽  
I. Koupil
Keyword(s):  
Birth Weight ◽  
Gestational Age ◽  
Stroke Risk ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Haemorrhagic Stroke ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Pelvic Size ◽  
Swedish Cohort

Earlier research suggests that maternal pelvic size is associated with offspring’s stroke risk in later life. We followed 6362 men and women from Uppsala, Sweden, born between 1915 and 1929 from 1964 to 2008 to assess whether maternal pelvic size was associated with incidence of thrombotic stroke (TS), haemorrhagic stroke (HS) and other stroke (OS). Offspring whose mothers had a flat pelvis had lower birth weight and birth-weight-for-gestational-age compared with those who did not. Inverse linear associations of birth-weight-for-gestational-age were observed with TS and OS. Female offspring whose mothers had a flat pelvis had increased risk of TS, but flat pelvis was not associated with other types of stroke. A smaller difference between intercristal and interspinous diameters and a smaller external conjugate diameter were independently associated with HS, whereas no pelvic measurements were associated with OS. We conclude that a smaller pelvis in women may impact the health of their offspring in adulthood.

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