PLACENTAL ANGIOGENIC FACTORS EXPRESSION IN A MURINE MODEL OF DEXAMETHASONE-INDUCED INTRAUTERINE GROWTH RESTRICTION (IUGR). DOES MELATONIN PREVENT IUGR?

CAROLINA MARVALDI; JULIETA SCHANDER; ANA MARÍA FRANCHI; JULIETA AISEMBERG; MANUEL LUIS WOLFSON

Buenos Aires

Congreso; IFPA 2019-VIII SLIMP; 2019

International Federation of Placenta Associations -Latin American Symposium on Maternal-Fetal Interaction and Placenta

Angiogenesisis compromised in IUGR pregnancies. Endothelial dysfunction and dysregulationof angiogenic factors lead to restricted blood flow and elevated vascularresistance. Maternal treatment with melatonin may improve placental efficiencyand birth weight. The objectives of this study were: a) to explore placental expressionprofile of angiogenic factors in a model of dexamethasone-induced IUGR; b) to investigate the effect of antenatal administration ofmelatonin (MLT) on IUGR rate. Pregnant BALB/creceived 8 mg/kg (s.c.) of dexamethasone (Dexa) on gestational day 14 and 15.The control group was sham-treated with saline. On gestational day 18 each feto-placentalunit was removed and placental tissue were processed for qPCR and western blot.A second set of mice were randomly allocated into 4 groups: Control, MLT, Dexa,and MLT + Dexa. Melatonin was administered i.p. or s.c. implanted with a singlepellet. Control animals were sham-treated with saline or sham-operated. Dexa wasadministered (8 mg/kg, s.c.) on gestational day 14 and 15. At postnatal day 1pups were weighed. IUGR was diagnosed when the body weight of each pup was lowerthan the 10th percentile. To analyzeplacental response to maternal dexamethasone treatment, VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 mRNAexpression were assessed in placentas from control and IUGR mice on gestationday 18. There were no significant changes in mRNA levels between groups. VEGFAprotein levels were then monitored by western blot. There was a significant (p