title: Relation of rat fetal body weight to the relative expression of insulin genes I and II.
abstract: This study investigates the relation between the ratio of the abundance of mRNAs encoded by insulin genes I and II (insulin I/II mRNA ratio) and the weight of rat fetuses on gestational day 20. Total RNA was extracted from the pancreas of the fetuses with the maximum and minimum body weight in each litter on gestational day 20. The amount of insulin mRNAs I and II in each RNA preparation was determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis and restriction enzyme digestion. The maximum and minimum weight of the fetuses were 4.07 +/- 0.23 and 3.23 +/- 0.34 g, respectively (N = 18, P < .01) and the corresponding insulin I/II mRNA ratios were 3.65 +/- 0.55 and 1.42 +/- 0.21 (N = 18, P < .01). Furthermore, the insulin I/II mRNA ratio correlated significantly with fetal weight (r = .526, P < .05). These results suggest that the relative expression of insulin genes I and II may affect the extent of fetal growth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mie University School of Medicine, Tsu, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Noda
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Minoura
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Toyoda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D020567:Fetal Weight; D005333:Fetus / Q000378:metabolism*; D007328:Insulin / Q000235:genetics*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D012333:RNA, Messenger