Adaptations in Maternofetal Calcium Transport in Relation to Placental Size and Fetal Sex in Mice.

ABSTRACT: Appropriate placental transport of calcium is essential for normal fetal skeletal mineralization. In fetal growth restriction (FGR), the failure of a fetus to achieve its growth potential, a number of placental nutrient transport systems show reduced activity but, in the case of calcium, placental transport is increased. In a genetic mouse model of FGR this increase, or adaptation, maintains appropriate fetal calcium content, relative to the size of the fetus, despite a small, dysfunctional placenta. It is unknown whether such an adaptation is also apparent in small, but normally functioning placentas. We tested the hypothesis that calcium transfer would be up-regulated in the lightest vs. heaviest placentas in the same C57Bl/6J wild-type (WT) mouse litter. Since lightest placentas are oft

SUBMITTER: Hayward CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5732954 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature