Pregnancy Dating in the Rat: Placental Morphology and Maternal Blood Parameters

The rat is commonly used as a model in studies on embryology and reproduction toxicology. Surprisingly, the current literature does not provide a comprehensive reference data set on placental development in rat. Therefore, we have evaluated morphological changes of the placenta and maternal blood pa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Toxicologic pathology 2002-03, Vol.30 (2), p.271-282
Main Authors: De Rijk, Eveline P.C.T., Van Esch, Eric, Flik, Gert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Blood Cell Count
Blood Coagulation
Blood Volume
Decidua - physiology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hormone metabolism and regulation
Placenta - cytology
Pregnancy
Pregnancy, Animal - blood
Pregnancy. Parturition. Lactation
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Trophoblasts - cytology
Vertebrates: reproduction
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Summary:The rat is commonly used as a model in studies on embryology and reproduction toxicology. Surprisingly, the current literature does not provide a comprehensive reference data set on placental development in rat. Therefore, we have evaluated morphological changes of the placenta and maternal blood parameters during pregnancy of the Sprague—Dawley rat. The morphologic data presented in this study may be useful as reference material. This study revealed that placental development in the rat is a well-defi ned process, characterized by key synchronized morphological events at specifi c points in time, convenient for laboratory practice and provides the toxicologist with a sensitive tool to distinguish between normal and abnormal placental development and to detect fetal and placental mismatches. During rat pregnancy, signifi cant changes were observed in maternal blood parameters strongly reminiscent of those observed in pregnant women. These changes included: (a) decreased blood cell volume as a result of hemodilution, (b) increased white blood cell counts refl ecting the response of the mother to the fetal allograft, (c) increased blood clotting values, (d) decreased plasma glucose and increased lipid content maximizing fetal glucose availability and maternal energy conservation, and (e) decreased electrolyte values refl ecting plasma volume expansion. It was concluded that the combined data set on placental morphology and maternal blood parameters in pregnant rats provides powerful tools for recognition of abnormal pregnancies.
ISSN:0192-6233
1533-1601
DOI:10.1080/019262302753559614