Brief, intermittent hypoxia restricts fetal growth in Sprague-Dawley rats.
This study was conducted to determine whether brief, intermittent exposure to hypoxia with little change in nutrient intake would affect fetal growth. Pregnant rats were exposed to 1 or 2 h of hypoxia (FiO2 = 0.09-0.095) from days 15 to 19 of gestation. Exposure to 1 h of hypoxia decreased fetal body weight and length, liver weight and increased the brain/liver weight ratio (p < 0.05) as compared to controls. Two hours of hypoxia decreased fetal body weight and length, and heart, lung, kidney, gut, brain and liver weights (p < 0.01), but did not affect the brain/liver weight ratio. Two hours of hypoxia decreased maternal food intake and weight gain (p < 0.05), but fetal growth was not significantly altered in pair-fed controls. These data demonstrate that brief, intermittent periods of intrauterine hypoxia have significant effects on fetal growth.
Schwartz
J E
JE
Division of Neonatology, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45229-3039, USA.
Kovach
A
A
Meyer
J
J
McConnell
C
C
Iwamoto
H S
HS
D000818:Animals; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000209:etiology*; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000150:complications*; D007668:Kidney / Q000196:embryology; D008099:Liver / Q000196:embryology; D009929:Organ Size; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013997:Time Factors