title: Effects of diabetes and/or hypercholesterolemia on skin development of rat fetuses.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effects of diabetes and/or hypercholesterolemia on skin development during in utero life at 15, 17 & 19 days old.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty pregnant female albino Wistar rats were arranged into three groups: control, diabetic (single i.p. 60 mg streptozotocin/kg B.wt) and hypercholesterolemic (diet supplement 3% cholesterol 6 week prior to conception and throughout gestation). Pregnant rats were sacrificed at 15, 17 & 19 days prenatal). Vibrissae skin biopsies were removed and allowed for scanning (SEM), light, and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) investigation. Also, DNA fragmentation and sodium dodecyl polyacrylamides gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) were carried out.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Scanning electron microscopic observations revealed retarded hair follicle growth and deformations of their pattern structure. At light microscopic level, skin exhibited decreased epidermal cornification, as well as degeneration of hair follicles in fetuses of both diabetic and hypercholesterolemic groups. Transmission electron microscopy revealed abundant vacuolar spaces in the epidermis. Degenerative phases become more abundant in keratinocytes as well as in stratum germinativum cells. Fetal skin possessed altered protein expression and missing bands as well as separation of genomic DNA to several degraded bands in skin of 15-, 17-, and 19-day-old, maternally diabetic and/or hypercholesterolemic fetuses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings showed that maternal diabetes and/or hypercholesterolemia increased average deformation of hair follicles, vacuolation, and degeneration of epidermal cell layers. The observed findings resulted from altered protein expression and increased DNA fragmentation, which, in turn, disrupt epidermal cell differentiation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt. elsayyad@mans.edu.eg
authors.forename: Hassan I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: El-Sayyad
authors.forename: Soad A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Khalifa
authors.forename: Yosra A
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Fouda
authors.forename: Ahmed S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Yonis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary / Q000009:adverse effects; D004249:DNA Damage; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000150:complications*; D004817:Epidermis / Q000196:embryology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D016678:Genome; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000196:embryology* / Q000473:pathology; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000150:complications*; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000473:pathology; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012867:Skin / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary; D011506:Proteins