Uterine contractile activity and intrauterine embryo spacing are altered by obesity

BAZZANO, MV; SARRIBLE, GB; BERÓN DE ASTRADA MARTÍN; ELIA EVELIN MARIEL

Congreso; International Federation of Placenta Associations 2019 (IFPA2019) & 8th Latin American Symposium on Maternal-Fetal Interaction and Placenta (VIII SLIMP); 2019

Obesity is associated to several metabolic and reproductive disorders. We previously showed that maternal obesity alters intrauterine fetal distribution and uterine β2 adrenergic receptor (β2AR) expression during pre-implantation (on gestation day (gd) 4.5). β2AR signaling has a critical role in embryo positioning by inducing myometrial relaxation. So, the aim of the present study was to determine whether obesity alters intrauterine embryo distribution and the uterine contractile activity during pre-implantation; and if it is due to β2AR signaling disruption. Twenty two days old female Wistar rats were divided into 2 groups that were fed ad libitum during 60 days with: standard rodent chow (Control) and cafeteria diet (Obese). Rats were, then, mated, euthanized on 4.5gd, embryos were flushed and uterine contractile activity was analyzed ex vivo. The number of embryos collected from each uterine horn were similar in control rats, however it differed in obese animals (p