Effects of hexarelin (a ghrelin analogue) on fertilisation and the pre- and postnatal development of mice

LUQUE EM; CARLINI VP; VINCENTI LM; PUECHAGUT P; STUTZ G; SANTILLÁN ME; RUIZ RD; MARTINI AC (DEBE SER CONSIDERADA ÚLTIMO AUTOR CONJUNTO); FIOL DE CUNEO M (DEBE SER CONSIDERADA ÚLTIMO AUTOR CONJUNTO)

REPRODUCTION FERTILITY AND DEVELOPMENT

CSIRO PUBLISHING

Año: 2010 vol. 22 p. 926 - 938

1031-3613

Ghrelin (Ghr) has been associated with reproductive physiology and pre/postnatal development. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of hexarelin (HEX; 100 or 200 µg/kg/day), a therapeutic Ghr analog, upon: 1) embryo development at 60h post-ovulation, after injecting pregnant mice from ovulation induction; 2) physical, neurobiological and sexual development of offspring of females injected with HEX (during the 1st, 2nd or 3rd week or the whole pregnancy), and 3) adulthood memory acquisition of the offspring from exp 2. We also evaluated the effects upon memory acquisition of chronic HEX administration to adult mice. In 1), HEX diminished ovulation rate, previously unreported result. In 2), in all the administration periods HEX tended to accelerate offspring maturation (statistically significant only in neurobiological parameters of offspring from mothers treated during the 1st week), independently of body weight. Nevertheless, both the offspring of mothers treated during the 1st week and/or whole pregnancy and adult mice chronically treated with HEX showed impaired memory, with females being more susceptible. In summary, HEX seems to exert differential effects according to the administration stage. Since this is a recently introduced therapeutic substance, its deleterious effects upon ovulation and memory acquisition must be considered.