Maternal nutrient restriction in guinea pigs leads to fetal growth restriction with increased brain apoptosis

Maternal nutrient restriction (MNR) in pregnant guinea pigs and the impact on fetal growth and brain development.

Early fetal hypoxia leads to growth restriction and myocardial thinning.

Hypoxia is necessary for fetal development; however, excess hypoxia is detrimental. Hypoxia has been extensively studied in the near-term fetus, but less is known about earlier fetal effects. The purpose of this study was to determine the window of vulnerability to severe hypoxia, what organ system(s) is most sensitive, and why hypoxic fetuses die. We induced hypoxia by reducing maternal-inspir...

Behaviour, brain and body growth of guinea-pigs after prenatal growth restriction.

I . Guinea-pigs were growth-retarded in early life by feeding their mothers a restricted quantity of food during the second half of pregnancy. After birth, all animals were fed ad Iib. Body-weights were recorded weekly and behavioural tests were made on adult males. The animals were then killed and their brains dissected into forebrain, cerebellum and brain stem. These regions were weighed and ...

Antenatal maternal hypoxia: criterion for fetal growth restriction in rodents

Rodents are a useful model for life science research. Accumulating evidence suggests that the offspring of mice and rats suffer from similar disorders as humans when exposed to hypoxia during pregnancy. Importantly, with antenatal hypoxic exposure, human neonates demonstrate low birth weight or growth restriction. Similarly, with antenatal hypoxic exposure rodents also demonstrate the fetal gro...

Chronic maternal feed restriction impairs growth but increases adiposity of the fetal guinea pig.

Small size at birth has been associated with an increased risk of central obesity and reduced lean body mass in adult life. This study investigated the time of onset of prenatally induced obesity, which occurs after maternal feed restriction, in the guinea pig, a species that, like the human, develops substantial adipose tissue stores before birth. We examined the effect of maternal feed restri...