Dexamethasone during pregnancy impairs maternal pancreatic β-cell renewal during lactation.

ABSTRACT: Pancreatic islets from pregnant rats develop a transitory increase in the pancreatic β-cell proliferation rate and mass. Increased apoptosis during early lactation contributes to the rapid reversal of those morphological changes. Exposure to synthetic glucocorticoids during pregnancy has been previously reported to impair insulin secretion, but its impacts on pancreatic islet morphological changes during pregnancy and lactation have not been described. To address this issue, we assessed the morphological and molecular characteristics of pancreatic islets from rats that underwent undisturbed pregnancy (CTL) or were treated with dexamethasone between the 14th and 19th days of pregnancy (DEX). Pancreatic islets were analyzed on the 20th day of pregnancy (P20) and on the 3rd, 8th, 14th and 21s

SUBMITTER: Teixeira CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6376996 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature