Chronic maternal cortisol excess during late gestation leads to metabolic alterations in the newborn heart.

ABSTRACT: Our laboratory has previously shown in an ovine model of pregnancy that abnormal elevations in maternal cortisol during late gestation lead to increased fetal cardiac arrhythmias and mortality during peripartum. Furthermore, transcriptomic analysis of the fetal heart suggested alterations in TCA cycle intermediates and lipid metabolites in animals exposed to excess cortisol in utero. Therefore, we utilized a sheep model of pregnancy to determine how chronic increases in maternal cortisol alter maternal and fetal serum before birth and neonatal cardiac metabolites and lipids at term. Ewes were either infused with 1 mg·kg^-1·day^-1 of cortisol starting at gestational day 115 ( n = 9) or untreated ( n = 6). Serum was collected from the mother and fetus (gestational day 125

SUBMITTER: Walejko JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6459297 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature