Neuronal vulnerability to fetal hypoxia-reoxygenation injury and motor deficit development relies on regional brain tetrahydrobiopterin levels.

ABSTRACT: Hypertonia is pathognomonic of cerebral palsy (CP), often caused by brain injury before birth. To understand the early driving events of hypertonia, we utilized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assessment of early critical brain injury in rabbit fetuses (79% term) that will predict hypertonia after birth following antenatal hypoxia-ischemia. We examined if individual variations in the tetrahydrobiopterin cofactor in the parts of the brain controlling motor function could indicate a role in specific damage to motor regions and disruption of circuit integration as an underlying mechanism for acquiring motor disorders, which has not been considered before. The rabbit model mimicked acute placental insufficiency and used uterine ischemia at a premature gestation. MRI during the time of hypoxia

SUBMITTER: Vasquez-Vivar J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6928344 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature