title: Gender differences in the long-term effects of perinatal hypoxia on pulmonary circulation in rats.
abstract: Some effects of perinatal hypoxia on pulmonary circulation are permanent. Since pulmonary vascular sensitivity to hypoxia in adults differs between sexes, we hypothesized that gender-based variability also exists in the long-term effects of perinatal hypoxia. Rats spent 1 wk before and 1 wk after birth in hypoxia (12% O2) and then lived in normoxia. When adult, females, but not males, with the perinatal experience of hypoxia had right ventricle hypertrophy. To assess the role of sex hormones, some rats were gonadectomized in ether anesthesia as newborns. Compared with intact, perinatally normoxic controls, muscularization of peripheral pulmonary vessels in adulthood was augmented in perinatally hypoxic, neonatally gonadectomized males (by 85%) and much more so in females (by 533%). Pulmonary artery pressure was elevated in perinatally hypoxic, neonatally gonadectomized females (24.4 +/- 1.7 mmHg) but not males (17.2 +/- 0.6 mmHg). Gonadectomy in adulthood had no effect. We conclude that female pulmonary circulation is more sensitive to late effects of perinatal hypoxia, and these effects are blunted by the presence of ovaries during maturation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Charles University Second Medical School, 150 00Prague 5, Czech Republic. vaclav.hampl@lf2.cuni.cz
authors.forename: Vaclav
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hampl
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bibova
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ostadalova
authors.forename: Viera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Povysilova
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Herget
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D009919:Orchiectomy; D010052:Ovariectomy; D011652:Pulmonary Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D012016:Reference Values; D012727:Sex Characteristics