title: Sexually dimorphic effects of maternal alcohol intake and adrenalectomy on left ventricular hypertrophy in rat offspring.
abstract: In humans, low birth weight and increased placental weight can be associated with cardiovascular disease in adulthood. Low birth weight and increased placental size are known to occur after fetal alcohol exposure or prenatal glucocorticoid administration. Thus the effects of removing the alcohol-induced increase in maternal corticosterone by maternal adrenalectomy on predictors of cardiovascular disease in adulthood were examined in rats. Alcohol exposure of dams during the last 2 wk of gestation resulted in significantly decreased fetal weight and increased placental weight on gestational day 21. Adult female, but not male, offspring of alcohol-consuming mothers exhibited left ventricular hypertrophy. Placental 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-2 (11beta-HSD-2) mRNA levels, measured by Northern blot, were decreased in females but not males. Adrenalectomy of alcohol-consuming dams reversed the increase in placental weight and the decrease in female placental 11beta-HSD-2 expression and eliminated the left ventricular hypertrophy of adult female offspring. These data suggest that alcohol-induced changes in placental 11beta-HSD-2 mRNA levels and left ventricular weight are coupled in female offspring only and depend on maternal adrenal status.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA. j-slone@northwestern.edu
authors.forename: Jennifer Slone
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Wilcoxon
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Fraser
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aird
authors.forename: Eva E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Redei
mesh_terms: D042842:11-beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases; D000315:Adrenalectomy; D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000633:toxicity*; D004032:Diet; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D020567:Fetal Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D006913:Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases / Q000097:blood; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D008098:Litter Size; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D010920:Placenta / Q000187:drug effects; D011247:Pregnancy; D012313:RNA / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012744:Sex Ratio
chemical_list: D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D000431:Ethanol; D012313:RNA; D006913:Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases; D042842:11-beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases; D006854:Hydrocortisone