Effects of maternal calorie-restricted diet on development of the foetal heart, as evaluated in primary cultures of rat myocardial cells

Intrauterine growth restriction impairs right ventricular response to hypoxia in adult male rats

BACKGROUND

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) predisposes to cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. The mechanisms of this phenomenon remain cryptic. We hypothesized that heart mitochondria in IUGR-born adult rats are more sensitive to acute hypoxia which translates into dysfunctional cardiac response to hypoxic stress.

METHODS

Adult IUGR-born male rats (the offspring of dams fed with calories-restricted diet during pregnancy) were exposed to acute hypoxic stress with echocardiographic assessment of cardiac function. In parallel, mitochondrial respiration in organelles isolated from left ventricle (LV) and right ventricle (RV) was tested in normoxic and anoxic conditions. The extent of post-anoxic inhibition of mitochondrial respiration and cardiac function was compared with controls, non-IUGR rats.

RESULTS

Compared with controls, in the IUGR rats hypoxia significantly reduced only RV contractility, evidenced by decreased fractional shortening, functional area of contraction, and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion. In isolated mitochondria, anoxic challenge inhibited respiratory chain in both groups of rats. However, compared with controls, the extent of anoxic mitochondrial depression was significantly greater in IUGR-born rats, but only in the organelles isolated from RV.

CONCLUSIONS

In adult IUGR-born rats, mitochondria from RV are hypersensitive to oxygen deprivation and this translates into maladaptive RV cardiac response to acute hypoxia.

Newborn neurobehavioral patterns are differentially related to prenatal maternal major depressive disorder and serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment

BACKGROUND

Prenatal serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI) exposure has been related to adverse newborn neurobehavioral outcomes; however, these effects have not been compared to those that may arise from prenatal exposure to maternal major depressive disorder (MDD) without SRI treatment. This study examined potential effects of MDD with and without SRI treatment on newborn neurobehavior.

METHODS

This was a prospective, naturalistic study. Women were seen at an outpatient research center twice during pregnancy (26-28 and 36-38 weeks gestational age (GA)). Psychiatric diagnoses were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV; medication use was measured with the Timeline Follow-Back instrument. Three groups were established based upon MDD diagnosis and SRI use: Control (N = 56), MDD (N = 20), or MDD + SRI (N = 36). Infants were assessed on a single occasion within 3 weeks of birth with the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Assessment Scale. Generalized Linear Modeling was used to examine neurobehavioral outcomes by exposure group and infant age at assessment.

RESULTS

Full-term infants exposed to MDD + SRIs had a lower GA than CON or MDD-exposed infants and, controlling for GA, had lower quality of movement and more central nervous system stress signs. In contrast, MDD-exposed infants had the highest quality of movement scores while having lower attention scores than CON and MDD + SRI-exposed infants.

CONCLUSION

MDD + SRI-exposed infants seem to have a different neurobehavioral profile than MDD-exposed infants in the first 3 weeks after delivery; both groups may have different neurobehavioral profiles with increasing age from birth.