Neurotrophin expression in the hippocampus and cerebellum is affected by chronic placental insufficiency in the late gestational ovine fetus.

Our aim was to determine the effects of chronic placental insufficiency (CPI) during late gestation on the expression of neurotrophic factors and their receptors in the hippocampus and cerebellum in the near-term fetus. Structural alterations were also assessed in these brain regions. CPI was induced in eight fetal sheep by umbilicoplacental embolization (UPE) from 120 to 140 days of gestation (term approximately 147d) such that fetal arterial O2 saturation (SaO2) was maintained at approximately 50% of pre-UPE values. Five non-UPE fetuses served as controls. UPE resulted in fetal hypoxemia, hypoglycaemia, and growth restriction. In hippocampi from UPE fetuses, there were reductions in the optical density (OD) of the immunoreactivity (IR) of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protein within the mossy fibre collaterals of the polymorphic layer and in stratum lucidum (p<0.05); there was no consistent effect on tyrosine-related kinase (Trk) B receptor or neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) expression. Within the cerebellum, there was an increase in BDNF-IR (p<0.05) in the molecular layer; however, Trk B-IR and NT-3-IR were unaltered. There were no significant alterations to the structural parameters measured in the hippocampus. We conclude that CPI in late gestation affects the expression of BDNF in the fetal hippocampus and cerebellum, but these changes do not have a well-defined relationship to structural outcome.