Study of the evolution of the placenta and fetal pancreas in the pathophysiology of growth retardation intrauterine due to restricted maternal diet

Abstract

Context: Intrauterine growth retard (IUGR) continues to be a significant perinatology problem at the end of this century. The nature of the etiologic agent, the time when the attack occurred during pregnancy and its duration affect the type of IUGR. Objective: To study the evolution of fetal pancreas and placenta between the 18th and 21st day of pregnancy in rats submitted to maternal protein-calorie restriction. Design: Randomized controlled trial on laboratory animal. Sample: Forty-one normoglycemic pregnant Wistar rats. Intervention: Rats were divided into six experimental groups according to their access to food and date of cesarean section (18th or 21st day): control with free access to food; diet restricted to 25% introduced on 1st day of pregnancy; and diet restricted to 25% after the 3rd day of pregnancy. Main measurements: Newborn weight, placenta weight, histopathological study (morphological histochemistry) Results: Maternal protein-calorie malnutrition caused intrauterine growth retard (IUGR) after the 18th day of pregnancy. Dietary restriction did not interfere with the morphology of the fetal pancreas and the immunohistochemical study of the placenta showed that glycogen stores were decreased between the 18th and 21st day in the control group and in a diet restricted to 25% from the first day of pregnancy. Dietary restriction after the 3rd day of pregnancy led to low placental glycogen concentrations on the 18th day and disappearance on the 21st day. Conclusion:The pathophysiology of IUGR due to maternal protein-calorie restriction in rats is related to lower placental weight and low placental glycogen stores.

Maternal hypothyroidism in the rat influences placental and liver glycogen stores: fetal growth retardation near term is unrelated to maternal and placental glucose metabolic compromise

“…(data not shown), it had no influence on fetal growth in single or multiple regression analyses with other relevant factors (data not shown). Furthermore, maternal nutritional restriction depresses placental weight and glycogen stores (Woodall et al 1996, Rudge et al 1999, whereas the TX s dams in the present study exhibited normal placental weight and elevated placental glycogen stores.…”

Effect of 6-Mercaptopurine on Rat Placenta

“…No marked histopathological changes in trophoblasts are noted in the small placentas caused by maternal malnutrition, although placental glycogen stores are reduced [23]. Therefore, we speculated that 6-MP-induced fetal and placental abnormalities might not be due to systemic toxic maternal effects.…”

Embryonic mortality and intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) associated with placental alterations in pregnant rats treated with methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) at the peri-implantation stage

“…Such factors of the maternal environment include nutrient restriction (Woodall et al, 1996;Rudge et al, 1999;Redmer et al, 2004;Wu et al, 2006), oxidative stress (Maranghi et al, 1998;Nash et al, 2005;Myatt, 2006;Burdon et al, 2007), anemia (Crowe et al, 1995), hypoxia (Robinson et al, 1979(Robinson et al, , 1985Owens et al, 1987aOwens et al, , 2007Lynch and Bruce, 1989;Myatt, 2006), and hypoglycemia (Robinson et al, 1979;Lueder et al, 1992;Carver and Hay, 1995;Owens et al, 1987bOwens et al, , 2007. Nutrient restriction affects the development of the blastocyst, its implantation, and the subsequent development of the placenta (Cross and Mickelson, 2006).…”