The Effect of Progesterone on Fetal and Placental Development in Normal and Protein-Energy-Restricted Rats

Abstract

Maternal protein-energy restriction (25% of the ad libitum intake) during the first 10 days of pregnancy resulted in severely altered fetal growth rates. Fetal development was assessed by body weight, brain weight, brain DNA, and brain protein content on fetal days 16, 18, 20 and at term. The individual placentas were also examined (weight, DNA and protein content) on each of these fetal days. Progesterone was administered commencing with day 3 of pregnancy until the day Caesarian section was done, in an attempt to rehabilitate placental development. This treatment did not improve placental development on fetal days 16 or 18. However, fetal development was significantly improved on day 16 and day 20, as compared to the dietary-restricted group without progesterone.

HIV Protease Inhibitor Use During Pregnancy Is Associated With Decreased Progesterone Levels, Suggesting a Potential Mechanism Contributing to Fetal Growth Restriction

“…This PI-induced defect in fetal growth was partially but significantly improved when mice were supplemented with progesterone throughout pregnancy. These findings are in agreement with previous observations in both rodent and sheep models in which progesterone reduction during pregnancy was associated with fetal growth restriction [ 32 – 34 ], and fetal weight was significantly improved following progesterone supplementation [ 32 , 33 ]. A recent meta-analysis of 36 randomized controlled trials of progesterone supplementation to prevent PTD in high-risk women also reported a significant effect for progesterone in reducing the rate of low birth weight [ 35 ].…”

Disrupting the circadian photo-period alters the release of follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, progesterone, and estradiol in maternal and fetal sheep

“…Recent studies have suggested that a reduction in progesterone is critical for the initiation of labor [21, 22]. Progesterone also plays an important role in regulating fetal development [31]. In this study, both maternal and fetal plasma progesterone levels were remarkably decreased during the “Night” period in the dark deprivation group.…”

NTP Research Report on the Scoping Review of Prenatal Exposure to Progestogens and Adverse Health Outcomes

“…The reported results across the same outcome were, however, often inconsistent. For example in animal studies, whole brain (or a specific region of brain) weight was higher in some studies (Ahmad and Zamenhof 1979;Menzies et al 1982;van Marthens et al 1979) and unaffected in others (Coyle et al 1976;Shaw et al 2017;Snyder and Hull 1980). Some studies of prenatal progesterone exposure reported greater performance in the learning and cognition domain in exposed versus unexposed children (Dalton 1968;1976), while other studies reported no difference from controls (Lynch et al 1978;McNamara et al 2015;Norman et al 2016).…”