Effects of intrauterine and early postnatal growth restriction on hypothalamic somatostatin gene expression in the rat.

In the human, intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) can result in persistent postnatal growth failure, which may be attributable, in part, to abnormal GH secretion. Whether putative alterations in GH secretion are the result of abnormalities intrinsic to the pituitary or reflect changes in the production of GH-releasing hormone or somatostatin (SS) is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that growth failure associated with IUGR or early postnatal food restriction (FR) is caused by a central defect in hypothalamic SS gene expression. Both models displayed persistent growth failure postnatally without any catch-up growth. We measured levels of SS mRNA levels in rats experimentally subjected to IUGR or FR. SS mRNA levels were measured by semiquantitative in situ hybridization throughout development. Levels of SS mRNA in the periventricular nucleus were significantly higher in both male and female IUGR rats in the juvenile and adult stages compared with matched controls (p < or = 0.05). FR was associated with higher SS mRNA levels only in neonatal female rats (p < or = 0.05). These results suggest that intrauterine malnutrition induces a persistent increase in the expression of SS mRNA in the periventricular nucleus, whereas early postnatal FR results in only a transient increase in SS gene expression. Because IGF-I levels were normal in juvenile IUGR and FR rats, central dysregulation of SS neurons does not appear to be the cause of early postnatal growth failure in either model. However, these observations are consistent with the hypothesis that nutritional stress at critical times during development can have persistent and potentially irreversible effects on organ function.