| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
CALL FOR PAPERS
Fetal Physiological Programming
Center for Perinatal Biology, Departments of Physiology and Pharmacology and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Loma Linda University, School of Medicine, Loma Linda, California
During the past several decades, many risk factors for cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease have been identified. More recently, it has been appreciated that inadequate nutrition and/or other intrauterine factors during fetal development may play an important role in the genesis of these conditions. An additional stress factor that may "program" the fetus for disease later in life is chronic hypoxia. In studies originally designed to examine the function of developing cerebral arterial function in response to long-term hypoxia (LTH), it has become clear that many cellular and subcellular changes may have important implications for later life. Here we review some of the significant alterations in fetal cerebral artery structure and function induced by high-altitude (3,820 m, 12,470 ft) LTH (
110 days). LTH is associated with augmentation or upregulation of presynaptic functions, including responses to perivascular (i.e., sympathetic) nerve stimulation, and structural maturational changes. In contrast, many postsynaptic functions related to the Ca2+-dependent contractile pathway tend to be downregulated, whereas elements of the Ca2+-independent contraction pathway are upregulated. The results emphasize the role of high-altitude LTH in modulating many aspects of electromechanical and pharmacomechanical coupling in the developing cerebral vasculature. A complicating factor is that the regulation of cerebrovascular tone by Ca2+-dependent and Ca2+-independent pathways changes significantly as a function of maturational age. In addition to highlighting independent regulation of various elements of the signal transduction cascade, the studies demonstrate the potential for LTH to program the fetus for cerebrovascular and other disease as an adult.
brain; development; cerebral blood flow
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  M. Marino, J. L. Beny, A. C. Peyter, R. Bychkov, G. Diaceri, and J. F. Tolsa Perinatal hypoxia triggers alterations in K+ channels of adult pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol, November 1, 2007; 293(5): L1171 - L1182. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. D. Higgins, E. Bancalari, M. Willinger, and T. N.K. Raju Executive Summary of the Workshop on Oxygen in Neonatal Therapies: Controversies and Opportunities for Research Pediatrics, April 1, 2007; 119(4): 790 - 796. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y. Gao, A. D. Portugal, S. Negash, W. Zhou, L. D. Longo, and J. Usha Raj Role of Rho kinases in PKG-mediated relaxation of pulmonary arteries of fetal lambs exposed to chronic high altitude hypoxia Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol, March 1, 2007; 292(3): L678 - L684. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. Tomimatsu, J. P. Pena, and L. D. Longo Fetal Hypercapnia in High-Altitude Acclimatized Sheep: Cerebral Blood Flow and Cerebral Oxygenation Reproductive Sciences, January 1, 2007; 14(1): 51 - 58. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. P. Pena, T. Tomimatsu, D. P. Hatran, L. L. McGill, and L. D. Longo Cerebral blood flow and oxygenation in ovine fetus: responses to superimposed hypoxia at both low and high altitude J. Physiol., January 1, 2007; 578(1): 359 - 370. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 W. Pearce Hypoxic regulation of the fetal cerebral circulation J Appl Physiol, February 1, 2006; 100(2): 731 - 738. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 B. T. Alexander Fetal programming of hypertension Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, January 1, 2006; 290(1): R1 - R10. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. M. Williams and W. J. Pearce Age-dependent modulation of endothelium-dependent vasodilatation by chronic hypoxia in ovine cranial arteries J Appl Physiol, January 1, 2006; 100(1): 225 - 232. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
E. M. Sanhueza, R. A. Riquelme, E. A. Herrera, D. A. Giussani, C. E. Blanco, M. A. Hanson, and A. J. Llanos Vasodilator tone in the llama fetus: the role of nitric oxide during normoxemia and hypoxemia Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, September 1, 2005; 289(3): R776 - R783. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. G. Hemmings, S. J. Williams, and S. T. Davidge Increased myogenic tone in 7-month-old adult male but not female offspring from rat dams exposed to hypoxia during pregnancy Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, August 1, 2005; 289(2): H674 - H682. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Schwartz and J. L. Morrison Impact and mechanisms of fetal physiological programming Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, January 1, 2005; 288(1): R11 - R15. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| Visit Other APS Journals Online |
