Abstract
Background
Fetal responses to adverse pregnancy environments are sex-specific. In fetal guinea pigs (GPs), we assessed morphology and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in fetal growth-restricted (FGR) tissues at midpregnancy.
Methods
Female GPs were assigned either an ad libitum diet (C) or 30% restricted diet (R) prior to pregnancy to midpregnancy. At midpregnancy, a subset of R females underwent ultrasound-guided nanoparticle (NP) injection to enhance placental function. Five days later, fetuses were sampled. Fetal brain, heart, and liver were assessed for morphology (hematoxylin and eosin), proliferation (Ki67), and vascularization (CD31), as well as expression of inflammatory markers.
Results
R fetuses were 19% lighter with reduced organ weights and evidence of brain sparing compared to controls. No increased necrosis, proliferation, or vascularization was found between C and R nor male or female fetal organs. Sexual dimorphism in mRNA expression of Tgfβ and Ctgf was observed in R but not C fetal brains: increased expression in females. NP treatment increased fetal brain mRNA expression of Tgfβ and Ctgf in R males, abolishing the significant difference observed in untreated R fetuses.
Conclusions
Sex-specific differences in mRNA expression in the fetal brain with FGR could impart a potential survival bias and may be useful for the development of treatments for obstetric diseases.
Impact
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Male and female fetuses respond differently to adverse pregnancy environments.
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Under fetal growth restriction conditions, inflammatory marker mRNA expression in the fetal brain was higher in females compared to males.
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Differences in gene expression between males and females may confer a selective advantage/disadvantage under adverse conditions.
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Better characterization of sexual dimorphism in fetal development will aid better development of treatments for obstetric diseases.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Dr. Timothy Regnault at the University of Western Ontario for his assistance with designing the inflammatory cytokine oligonucleotide primer sequences as well as the staff at Vet Services, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center for their assistance with the animal procedures. This study was funded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) award R01HD090657 (H.N.J.).
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R.L.W. conceived the study, performed experiments, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. K.K.S. conceived the study, performed experiments, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. K.L. performed experiments and edited the manuscript. H.N.J. conceived the study, obtained the funding, and edited the manuscript. All authors approved the final version.
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Wilson, R.L., Stephens, K.K., Lampe, K. et al. Sexual dimorphisms in brain gene expression in the growth-restricted guinea pig can be modulated with intra-placental therapy. Pediatr Res 89, 1673–1680 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-021-01362-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-021-01362-4
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