What is it about?
We injected female sheep, at about two thirds of the way through their pregnancy, with a betamethasone, a synthetic version of an adrenal hormone that is normally produced during stress. Five days alter, we studied the testis of the male fetuses and found that the betamethasone reduced the number of Leydig cells, the cells that produce testosterone.
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Why is it important?
This is one a series of studies that Pedrana and colleagues have done over 10-15 years, with sheep and rodents, looking at the effects of betamethasone treatment during pregnancy. Betamethasone is used in women at risk of pre-term birth to mature the lungs of premature babies. Also, any effects of betamethasone will reflect the effects of stressors that stimulate the secretion of cortisol-type hormones from the adrenal gland. It is important that we know how such factors affect the development of the offspring, including their future fertility as adults.
Perspectives
In humans, betamethasone is an essential aspect of the management of premature babies, but we must always be mindful of side effects so we are not tempted to used excessive doses. In livestock, stress during pregnancy might explain a lot of the variation in fertility and fecundity among adult males.
Professor Graeme Bruce Martin
University of Western Australia
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Effects of Pre-natal Glucocorticoids on Testicular Development in Sheep, Anatomia Histologia Embryologia, October 2008, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0264.2008.00853.x.
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