Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain.
Instituto de Biomedicina y Genética Molecular (IBGM), UVa-CSIC, Valladolid, Spain.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2023;1427:73-81. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-32371-3_8.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) during pregnancy is characterized by episodes of intermittent hypoxia (IH) during sleep, resulting in adverse health outcomes for mother and offspring. Despite a prevalence of 8-20% in pregnant women, this disorder is often underdiagnosed.We have developed a murine model of gestational OSA to study IH effects on pregnant mothers, placentas, fetuses, and offspring. One group of pregnant rats was exposed to IH during the last 2 weeks of gestation (GIH). One day before the delivery date, a cesarean section was performed. Other group of pregnant rats was allowed to give birth at term to study offspring's evolution.Preliminary results showed no significant weight differences in mothers and fetuses. However, the weight of GIH male offspring was significantly lower than the controls at 14 days (p < 0.01). The morphological study of the placentas showed an increase in fetal capillary branching, expansion of maternal blood spaces, and number of cells of the external trophectoderm in the tissues from GIH-exposed mothers. Additionally, the placentas from the experimental males were enlarged (p < 0.05). Further studies are needed to follow the long-term evolution of these changes to relate the histological findings of the placentas with functional development of the offspring in adulthood.
妊娠期阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停（OSA）的特征是睡眠期间间歇性缺氧（IH）发作，导致母婴健康状况不佳。尽管孕妇中的患病率为 8-20%，但这种疾病常常被漏诊。我们已经开发了一种妊娠期 OSA 的小鼠模型，以研究 IH 对孕妇、胎盘、胎儿和后代的影响。一组怀孕的老鼠在妊娠的最后 2 周（GIH）期间暴露于 IH 下。在分娩日期前一天，进行剖腹产。另一组怀孕的老鼠允许其自然分娩，以研究后代的发育情况。初步结果显示母亲和胎儿的体重无明显差异。然而，GIH 雄性后代的体重在 14 天时明显低于对照组（p<0.01）。来自 GIH 暴露的母亲的胎盘的形态学研究显示胎儿毛细血管分支增加，母体血液空间扩张，以及外部滋养层细胞数量增加。此外，实验雄性的胎盘增大（p<0.05）。需要进一步的研究来跟踪这些变化的长期演变，将胎盘的组织学发现与成年后代的功能发育联系起来。
