Shiga toxin-2 induces feto-maternal damage and abortion in rats in early stage of pregnancy

SACERDOTI FLAVIA; ZOTTA ELSA; AMARAL MARÍA M; FRANCHI AM; IBARRA CRISTINA

Foz de Iguazu

Simposio; Latin American Society for Maternal Fetal Interaction and Placenta.; 2013

Latin American Society for Maternal Fetal Interaction and Placenta.

Shiga toxin type 2 (Stx2) is the leading cause of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, a systemic complication that affects principally kidney and brain. We propose that Stx2 might be one of the causes of feto-maternal morbimortality not yet investigated. In the present work we analyzed the feto-maternal status after intraperitoneal injection of different doses of Stx2/g of body weight (bwt) on day 8 of gestation. All the experimental groups showed decrease in food intake with gradual weight loss until 7-8 days post-injection (dpi). The rats injected with 1 ng Stx2 died 6-7 dpi, whereas those treated with 0.25 and 0.5 ng Stx2 survived and recovered weight but showed vaginal bleeding with fetal resorptions. Some pups born at term when the dose of 0.25 ng Stx2 was used but they had a lower weight compared with the controls. These results indicate that Stx2 affects feto-maternal status and causes pregnancy loss in rats.