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Regulation of maternal and fetal hemodynamics by heme oxygenase in mice.
Heme oxygenase (HMOX) regulates vascular tone and blood pressure through the production of carbon monoxide (CO), a vasodilator derived from the heme degradation pathway. During pregnancy, the maternal circulation undergoes significant adaptations to …
Publication
Effect of gestational diabetes on maternal artery function.
Endothelial dysfunction has been observed systemically in women with gestational diabetes (GDM). Important cardiovascular adaptations occur during pregnancy, including enhanced endothelium-dependent vasodilation in systemic and uterine arteries, which are …
Publication
Placental growth factor influences maternal cardiovascular adaptation to pregnancy in mice.
In healthy human pregnancies, placental growth factor (PGF) concentrations rise in maternal plasma during early gestation, peak over Weeks 26-30, then decline. Because PGF in nongravid subjects participates in protection against and recovery from cardiac …
Publication
Folate rescues lithium-, homocysteine- and Wnt3A-induced vertebrate cardiac anomalies.
Elevated plasma homocysteine (HCy), which results from folate (folic acid, FA) deficiency, and the mood-stabilizing drug lithium (Li) are both linked to the induction of human congenital heart and neural tube defects. We demonstrated previously that acute …
Publication
Evaluation of utero-placental and fetal hemodynamic parameters throughout gestation in pregnant mice using high-frequency ultrasound
Throughout gestation, changes in maternal and fetal Doppler parameters in pregnant mice, similar to those obtained in human fetuses, were detected using high-frequency ultrasound with a 55-MHz linear probe. In the uterine arteries (UtA), fetal umbilical …
Publication
Endothelial nitric oxide synthase deficiency reduces uterine blood flow, spiral artery elongation, and placental oxygenation in pregnant mice.
Preeclampsia is associated with impaired uteroplacental adaptations during pregnancy and abnormalities in the endothelial NO synthase (eNOS)-NO pathway, but whether eNOS deficiency plays a causal role is unknown. Thus, the objective of the current study …
Publication
Chronic carbon monoxide inhalation during pregnancy augments uterine artery blood flow and uteroplacental vascular growth in mice.
End-tidal breath carbon monoxide (CO) is abnormally low in women with preeclampsia (PE), while women smoking during pregnancy have shown an increase in CO levels and a 33% lower incidence of PE. This effect may be, in part, due to lowered sFLT1 plasma …
Publication
Hypoxia induces dilated cardiomyopathy in the chick embryo: mechanism, intervention, and long-term consequences.
BACKGROUND: Intrauterine growth restriction is associated with an increased future risk for developing cardiovascular diseases. Hypoxia in utero is a common clinical cause of fetal growth restriction. We have previously shown that chronic hypoxia alters …
Publication
Transcriptional profiling and network analysis of the murine angiotensin II-induced abdominal aortic aneurysm.
We sought to characterize temporal gene expression changes in the murine angiotensin II (ANG II)-ApoE-/- model of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Aortic ultrasound measurements were obtained over the 28-day time-course. Harvested suprarenal aortic …
Publication
Assessment of flow distribution in the mouse fetal circulation at late gestation by high-frequency Doppler ultrasound
This study used high-frequency ultrasound to evaluate the flow distribution in the mouse fetal circulation at late gestation. We studied 12 fetuses (embryonic day 17.5) from 12 pregnant CD1 mice with 40 MHz ultrasound to assess the flow in 11 vessels …