MATERNALLY ADMINISTERED DEXAMETHASONE TRANSIENTLY INCREASES APOPTOSIS IN LUNGS OF FETAL RATS

In late gestation, morphological maturation of fetal lung includes septal thinning of potential airspaces, a process accelerated by exogenous glucocorticoids. Apoptosis occurs in normal fetal lung. Glucocorticoids increase apoptosis in several tissues. The authors hypothesized that exogenous glucoco...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental lung research 2003-06, Vol.29 (4), p.211-226
Main Authors: Scavo, Louis M., Newman, Valerie, Ertsey, Robert, Chapin, Cheryl J., Kitterman, Joseph A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Apoptosis - drug effects
Apoptotic Index
Biological and medical sciences
Cell Count
Dexamethasone - administration & dosage
Dexamethasone - toxicity
DNA - analysis
Drug toxicity and drugs side effects treatment
Female
Fetal Lung Growth
Fetal Lung Maturation
Fetal Weight - drug effects
Fetus - drug effects
Fetus - pathology
Gestational Age
Glucocorticoids - administration & dosage
Glucocorticoids - toxicity
In Situ Nick-End Labeling
Injections, Intramuscular
Lung - drug effects
Lung - embryology
Lung - pathology
Maternal Exposure
Medical sciences
Organ Size - drug effects
Organogenesis - drug effects
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Pregnancy
Programmed Cell Death
Rats
Toxicity: respiratory system, ent, stomatology
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Summary:In late gestation, morphological maturation of fetal lung includes septal thinning of potential airspaces, a process accelerated by exogenous glucocorticoids. Apoptosis occurs in normal fetal lung. Glucocorticoids increase apoptosis in several tissues. The authors hypothesized that exogenous glucocorticoids would increase apoptosis in fetal lung, primarily in the interstitium. They administered dexamethasone (DEX), 1 mg/kg, or vehicle (Control) to pregnant rats at 19 days of gestation. Fetuses were delivered at 3, 7, 12, or 24 hours post injection. DEX decreased fetal body weight and lung weight, DNA, and protein 12 hours post injection. Using the terminal deoxynucleotide transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) reaction to label apoptotic cells in lung, they calculated an apoptotic index (AI, apoptotic cells/1000 total cells) for each fetus. Average DEX AI (3.6 ± 2.6, mean ± SD) was greater than Control (1.7 ± 0.5) (P
ISSN:0190-2148
1521-0499
DOI:10.1080/01902140303784