title: Antenatal administration of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor increases fetal lung maturation and endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression in the fetal rat lung.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated how maternal administration of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) induced fetal lung maturation compared with dexamethasone and whether maternal administration of GM-CSF and dexamethasone influenced the fetal lung eNOS expression.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty pregnant rats were divided into three groups of 10 rats each to receive GM-CSF, dexamethasone or saline solution at 16 days of gestation. Lung maturation using bronchial area and immunohistochemical lung airway epithelium and the vascular endothelial eNOS expression, using H Scores, were evaluated at 18 and 20 days of gestation. The statistical analysis was done with the Kruskal-Wallis test for comparisons of more than two groups and the Mann-Whitney U-test as a post hoc test using SPSS for windows release 10.0. Values of p>0, 0.05 were considered significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On the 20th day of gestation both GM-CSF and dexamethasone injections caused a significant increase in fetal lung bronchial area, as compared with the controls (24.9%, 36.8%, 13.4%, respectively, p=0.001). eNOS immunoreactivity was observed in the endothelium of large pulmonary vessels and large and small airway epithelium on the 18th and 20th day of gestation. Maternal GM-CSF and dexamethasone increased lung eNOS expression in the airway epithelium when compared to controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Maternal administration of GM-CSF induced fetal lung maturation and this effect may be mediated, at least partly, by an increase in the eNOS expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Celal Bayar University School of Medicine, Manisa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yesim Bulbul
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Baytur
authors.forename: Kemal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ozbilgin
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yuksel
authors.forename: Can
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kose
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005325:Fetal Organ Maturity / Q000187:drug effects*; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008168:Lung / Q000196:embryology* / Q000201:enzymology*; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D003907:Dexamethasone; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III