title: Effects of maternal food restriction on offspring lung extracellular matrix deposition and long term pulmonary function in an experimental rat model.
abstract: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) increases the risk of respiratory compromise throughout postnatal life. However, the molecular mechanism(s) underlying the respiratory compromise in offspring following IUGR is not known. We hypothesized that IUGR following maternal food restriction (MFR) would affect extracellular matrix deposition in the lung, explaining the long-term impairment in pulmonary function in the IUGR offspring. Using a well-established rat model of MFR during gestation to produce IUGR pups, we found that at postnatal day 21, and at 9 months (9M) of age the expression and abundance of elastin and alpha smooth muscle actin (αSMA), two key extracellular matrix proteins, were increased in IUGR lungs when compared to controls (P < 0.05, n = 6), as determined by both Western and immunohistochemistry analyses. Compared to controls, the MFR group showed no significant change in pulmonary resistance at baseline, but did have significantly decreased pulmonary compliance at 9M (P < 0.05 vs. control, n = 5). In addition, MFR lungs exhibited increased responsiveness to methacholine challenge. Furthermore, exposing cultured fetal rat lung fibroblasts to serum deprivation increased the expression of elastin and elastin-related genes, which was blocked by serum albumin supplementation, suggesting protein deficiency as the predominant mechanism for increased pulmonary elastin deposition in IUGR lungs. We conclude that accompanying the changes in lung function, consistent with bronchial hyperresponsiveness, expression of the key alveolar extracellular matrix proteins elastin and αSMA increased in the IUGR lung, thus providing a potential explanation for the compromised lung function in IUGR offspring.
authors: Department of Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Torrance, California, USA. vrehan@labiomed.org
authors: Virender K
authors: VK
authors: Rehan
authors: Reiko
authors: R
authors: Sakurai
authors: Yishi
authors: Y
authors: Li
authors: Ahmet
authors: A
authors: Karadag
authors: Julia
authors: J
authors: Corral
authors: Saverio
authors: S
authors: Bellusci
authors: Ying Ying
authors: YY
authors: Xue
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Belperio
authors: John S
authors: JS
authors: Torday
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D031204:Caloric Restriction; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004549:Elastin / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016210:Methacholine Chloride; D011247:Pregnancy; D039401:Prenatal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D004549:Elastin; D016210:Methacholine Chloride; C498862:Acta2 protein, rat