Background-Epidemiological findings suggest an association between low-for-age birth weight and the risk to develop coronary heart diseases in adulthood. During pregnancy, an imbalance between fetal demands and supply may result in permanent alterations of neuroendocrine development in the fetus. We evaluated whether chronic prenatal hypoxia increases arterial sympathetic innervation. Methods and Results-Chicken embryos were maintained from 0.3 to 0.9 of the 21-day incubation period under normoxic (21% O 2 ) or hypoxic conditions (15% O 2 ). At 0.9 incubation, the degree of sympathetic innervation of the embryonic femoral artery was determined by biochemical, histological, and functional (in vitro contractile reactivity) techniques. Chronic hypoxia increased embryonic mortality (32% versus 13%), reduced body weight (21.9Ϯ0.4 versus 25.4Ϯ0.6 g), increased femoral artery norepinephrine (NE) content (78.4Ϯ9.4 versus 57.5Ϯ5.0 pg/mm vessel length), and increased the density of periarterial sympathetic nerve fibers (14.4Ϯ0.7 versus 12.5Ϯ0.6 counts/10 4 m 2 ). Arteries from hypoxic embryos were less sensitive to NE (pD 2 , 5.99Ϯ0.04 versus 6.21Ϯ0.10). In the presence of cocaine, however, differences in sensitivity were no longer present. In the embryonic heart, NE content (156.9Ϯ11.0 versus 108.1Ϯ14.7 pg/mg wet wt) was also increased after chronic hypoxia. Conclusions-In the chicken embryo, chronic moderate hypoxia leads to sympathetic hyperinnervation of the arterial system. In humans, an analogous mechanism may increase the risk for cardiovascular disease in adult life. (Circulation.

Although chronic prenatal hypoxia is considered a major cause of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, experimental studies have failed to consistently find pulmonary hypertensive changes after chronic intrauterine hypoxia. We hypothesized that chronic prenatal hypoxia induces changes in the pulmonary vasculature of the chicken embryo. We analyzed pulmonary arterial reactivity and structure and heart morphology of chicken embryos maintained from days 6 to 19 of the 21-day incubation period under normoxic (21% O(2)) or hypoxic (15% O(2)) conditions. Hypoxia increased mortality (0.46 vs. 0.14; P < 0.01) and reduced the body mass of the surviving 19-day embryos (22.4 +/- 0.5 vs. 26.6 +/- 0.7 g; P < 0.01). A decrease in the response of the pulmonary artery to KCl was observed in the 19-day hypoxic embryos. The contractile responses to endothelin-1, the thromboxane A(2) mimetic U-46619, norepinephrine, and electrical-field stimulation were also reduced in a proportion similar to that observed for KCl-induced contractions. In contrast, no hypoxia-induced decrease of response to vasoconstrictors was observed in externally pipped 21-day embryos (incubated under normoxia for the last 2 days). Relaxations induced by ACh, sodium nitroprusside, or forskolin were unaffected by chronic hypoxia in the pulmonary artery, but femoral artery segments of 19-day hypoxic embryos were significantly less sensitive to ACh than arteries of control embryos [pD(2) (= -log EC(50)): 6.51 +/- 0.1 vs. 7.05 +/- 0.1, P < 0.01]. Pulmonary vessel density, percent wall area, and periarterial sympathetic nerve density were not different between control and hypoxic embryos. In contrast, hypoxic hearts showed an increase in right and left ventricular wall area and thickness. We conclude that, in the chicken embryo, chronic moderate hypoxia during incubation transiently reduced pulmonary arterial contractile reactivity, impaired endothelium-dependent relaxation of femoral but not pulmonary arteries, and induced biventricular cardiac hypertrophy.

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The present study aimed to characterize pulmonary vascular reactivity in the chicken embryo from the last stage of prenatal development and throughout the perinatal period. Isolated intrapulmonary arteries from non-internally pipped embryos at 19 days of incubation and from internally and externally pipped embryos at 21 days of incubation were studied. Arterial diameter and contractile responses to KCl, endothelin-1, and U-46619 increased with incubation but were unaffected by external pipping. In contrast, the contractions induced by norepinephrine, phenylephrine, and electric field stimulation decreased with development. No developmental changes were observed in endothelium-dependent [acetylcholine (ACh) and cyclopiazonic acid] or endothelium-independent [sodium nitroprusside (SNP)] relaxation. These relaxations were abolished by the soluble guanylate cyclase inhibitor 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one. Endothelium-dependent relaxation was unaffected by blockade of cyclooxygenase or heme oxygenase but was significantly reduced by nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitors. Reduction of O2 concentration from 95 to 5% produced a marked reduction in ACh and SNP-induced relaxations. Chicken embryo pulmonary arteries show a marked endothelium-dependent relaxation that is unaffected by transition to ex ovo life. Endothelium-derived NO seems to be the main mediator responsible for this relaxation.

Contractile and relaxing reactivity in carotid and femoral arteries of chicken embryos. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 278: H1261-H1268, 2000.-In the embryo, hypoxemia causes redistribution of cardiac output from the periphery toward the heart and the brain. In view of this, we investigated developmental changes in the contractile and relaxing properties of the peripheral femoral artery (Fem) and the more central carotid artery (Car) at 0.7, 0.8, and 0.9 of the chicken embryo incubation time. Isolated arteries were studied in myographs and were exposed to norepinephrine or phenylephrine. High K ϩ (125 mM) and electrical field stimulation (0.25-16 Hz) were used to induce receptor-independent and neurogenic contractions. Relaxing responses to ACh were evaluated in the absence and presence of the nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor N G -nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) and before and after endothelium removal. ␣ 1 -Adrenergic contractile responses increased in a time-dependent manner and were significantly larger in Fem than in Car. Neurogenic contractions and adrenergic nerves could only be demonstrated in Fem at 0.9 incubation. ACh caused relaxation in both Fem and Car at 0.7, 0.8, and 0.9 incubation. The NO-independent part of the relaxation was more pronounced in Car than in Fem at all developmental stages. We conclude that the chicken embryo is a useful model to investigate the development of vasomotor control and vascular heterogeneity. The observed regional vascular differences may contribute to cardiac output redistribution during hypoxia in the embryo and might result from endothelial and neurogenic influences on vascular smooth muscle differentiation.

We previously observed arterial sympathetic hyperinnervation and endothelial dysfunction in the chicken embryo after exposure to chronic hypoxia. We now investigate whether changes in arterial properties could also be observed at 14-15 weeks of life. Eggs of White Leghorn chicken were incubated under normoxic or moderately hypoxic (15% O2 from days 6-19 of a 21-day incubation) conditions. Experiments were performed at 14-15 weeks of life under standard conditions (Hm: males exposed to hypoxia; Hf: females exposed to hypoxia; Nm: males exposed to normoxia; Nf: females exposed to normoxia). Body weight at hatching and at 14-15 weeks was not affected by in ovo exposure to hypoxia. Mean arterial pressure and heart rate were not significantly altered by chronic in ovo hypoxia. However, isolated femoral arteries were more sensitive to electrical stimulation (frequency in Hz of half-maximal contraction, Hm: 1.62+/-0.33, Hf: 1.92+/-0.88, Nm: 2.49+/-0.49, Nf: 2.83+/-0.31) and pharmacological stimulation of peri-arterial sympathetic nerves (contraction in N/m in response to tyramine: Hm: 5.27+/-0.85, Hf: 4.10+/-0.9, Nm: 2.26+/-0.67, Nf: 3.65+/-0.51, p=0.07) after in ovo hypoxia. In side branches of the femoral artery, the effect of NO synthase blockade with L-NAME on contraction (in N/m) in response to high K+ (Hm: 0.35+/-0.91, Hf: 1.29+/-0.36, Nm: 2.88+/-0.19, Nf: 2.79+/-0.58) and on the sensitivity to acetylcholine (DeltapD2, H: 0.32+/-0.11, N: 0.62+/-0.05) was reduced after in ovo hypoxia. The present study shows that exposure to chronic moderate hypoxia during development affects the contractile and relaxing arterial responses of 14- to 15-week-old chickens. Although hypoxia did not lead to changes in blood pressure at this age, the observed effects on arterial sympathetic and endothelial function may represent early signs of future cardiovascular abnormalities.

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. Direct effects of acute hypoxia on the reactivity of peripheral arteries of the chicken embryo. Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol 283: R331-R338, 2002. First published April 4, 2002 10.1152/ajpregu.00675.2001.-In the chicken embryo, acute hypoxemia results in cardiovascular responses, including an increased peripheral resistance. We investigated whether local direct effects of decreased oxygen tension might participate in the arterial response to hypoxemia in the chicken embryo. Femoral arteries of chicken embryos were isolated at 0.9 of incubation time, and the effects of acute hypoxia on contraction and relaxation were determined in vitro. While hypoxia reduced contraction induced by high K ϩ to a small extent (Ϫ21.8 Ϯ 5.7%), contractile responses to exogenous norepinephrine (NE) were markedly reduced (Ϫ51.1 Ϯ 3.2%) in 80% of the arterial segments. This effect of hypoxia was not altered by removal of the endothelium, inhibition of NO synthase or cyclooxygenase, or by depolarization plus Ca 2ϩ channel blockade. When arteries were simultaneously exposed to NE and ACh, hypoxia resulted in contraction (ϩ49.8 Ϯ 9.3%). Also, relaxing responses to ACh were abolished during acute hypoxia, while the vessels became more sensitive to the relaxing effect of the NO donor sodium nitroprusside (pD2: 5.81 Ϯ 0.21 vs. 5.31 Ϯ 0.27). Thus, in chicken embryo femoral arteries, acute hypoxia blunts agonist-induced contraction of the smooth muscle and inhibits stimulated endothelium-derived relaxation factor release. The consequences of this for in vivo fetal hemodynamics during acute hypoxemia depend on the balance between vasomotor influences of circulating catecholamines and those of the endothelium.catecholamine; endothelium-derived relaxation factor IN THE FETUS, AN ACUTE DECREASE in arterial oxygen tension leads to cardiovascular responses, involving an elevation in blood pressure and redistribution of the cardiac output in favor of vital organs. In fetal lambs (10), fetal llamas (9), and chicken embryos (24, 25), increased levels of circulating catecholamines take part in this response. Early in gestation, the chromaffin cells in the primitive adrenal medulla are directly sensitive to low oxygen tension. Later in gestation, activation of efferent sympathetic nerves also contributes to the response (38). Antagonists of ␣-adrenoreceptors blunt the hypoxia-induced increase in fetal total peripheral resistance (9, 10, 25).Neurohumoral mechanisms have been proposed to be important regulators of blood flow in the hypoxemic fetus, but it remains to be established whether local and direct effects of decreased oxygen tension participate in the fetal cardiovascular response to hypoxemia. In previous studies, we have shown that chronic exposure to hypoxia affects both sympathetic innervation (34) and endothelium-dependent relaxation (33) of femoral arteries of the chicken embryo, but acute effects of hypoxia in isolated systemic arteries were not studied. Moreover, acute effects of low oxygen tension have been studied i...