biostudies-literatureUnknown73(3)Smith KLMBritish Heart FoundationInsufficient oxygen supply (hypoxia) during fetal development leads to cardiac remodeling and a predisposition to cardiovascular disease in later life. Previous work has shown hypoxia causes oxidative stress in the fetal heart and alters the activity and expression of mitochondrial proteins in a sex-dependent manner. However, the functional effects of these modifications on mitochondrial respiration remain unknown. Furthermore, while maternal antioxidant treatments are emerging as a promising new strategy to protect the hypoxic fetus, whether these treatments convey similar protection to cardiac mitochondria in the male or female fetus has not been investigated. Therefore, using an established rat model, we measured the sex-dependent effects of gestational hypoxia and maternal melatonin trJournal of pineal researche12821https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9540814biostudies-literatureChronic developmental hypoxia alters mitochondrial oxidative capacity and reactive oxygen species production in the fetal rat heart in a sex-dependent manner.PMC9540814Galli GLJTrafford AWThomas DSwiderska ALock MCGraham LDesforges MSmith KLMChoudhary TKowash HMIswari WCottrell ECGiussani DAfalseChronic developmental hypoxia alters mitochondrial oxidative capacity and reactive oxygen species production in the fetal rat heart in a sex-dependent manner.Insufficient oxygen supply (hypoxia) during fetal development leads to cardiac remodeling and a predisposition to cardiovascular disease in later life. Previous work has shown hypoxia causes oxidative stress in the fetal heart and alters the activity and expression of mitochondrial proteins in a sex-dependent manner. However, the functional effects of these modifications on mitochondrial respiration remain unknown. Furthermore, while maternal antioxidant treatments are emerging as a promising new strategy to protect the hypoxic fetus, whether these treatments convey similar protection to cardiac mitochondria in the male or female fetus has not been investigated. Therefore, using an established rat model, we measured the sex-dependent effects of gestational hypoxia and maternal melatonin tr2022-01-01T00:00:00Z2022 Oct2025-04-22T12:10:56.727Z2025-04-06T00:13:42.674ZS-EPMC95408143594174910.1111/jpi.12821