Abstract
We have used aminoterminal pro C-type natriuretic peptide (NTproCNP)—a stable marker of CNP secretion—to study the effect of cortisol on CNP secretion and fetal growth. In ovine pregnancy, maternal plasma NTproCNP (largely sourced from the placenta) increases at the end of the first trimester and then decreases abruptly preterm during the phase of fetal surge in cortisol secretion. Postulating that increases in cortisol, as occurs in the fetal or maternal circulation in late pregnancy, will reduce CNP secretion, we studied the fetal and maternal responses in NTproCNP to sustained low-dose infusions of cortisol (1.2 mg/d/kg for 11 d) delivered to the fetus from d 117 gestation. Fetal plasma NTproCNP was progressively reduced during fetal cortisol infusions, whereas fetal girth growth was unchanged. In contrast, maternal NTproCNP was unaffected by cortisol. We conclude that fetal but not placental tissue production of CNP is reduced by small increments in fetal cortisol. Failure to reduce maternal NTproCNP may relate to the continuing presence of the placental barrier to cortisol at this stage of pregnancy.
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Abbreviations
- BNC:
-
binucleate cell
- CNP:
-
C-type natriuretic peptide
- NTproCNP:
-
aminoterminal pro C-type natriuretic peptide
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Acknowledgements
We thank Janine Street for the assays and members of the Fetal and Neonatal Physiology group at the Liggins Institute for their expert technical assistance.
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Supported, in part, by the Health Research Council of New Zealand and the National Research Centre for Growth and Development.
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Prickett, T., McNeill, B., Oliver, M. et al. Effect of Cortisol on C-Type Natriuretic Peptide in Ovine Pregnancy: Differential Responses in Fetal and Placental Tissues. Pediatr Res 68, 462–465 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1203/PDR.0b013e3181f9039d
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/PDR.0b013e3181f9039d
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