What is it about?
Oligohydramnios denotes amniotic fluid volume that is less than expected for gestational age. An adequate volume of amniotic fluid is critical to normal lung development, pregnancies complicated by oligohydramnios from any cause may retard fetal lung growth and results in pulmonary hypoplasia in experimental animals and in human fetuses.
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Why is it important?
Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) is important for alveolarization of the normally developing lung. We produced oligohydramnios in Sprague-Dawley rat fetuses by puncturing uterine wall and fetal membranes of each uterine sac on day 16 of gestation and delivered the fetuses on days 19 and 21 of gestation by cesarean section. We found that lung PDGF-A and PDGF-B gene and protein expression and elastin level were significantly decreased in rats exposed to oligohydramnios on days 19 and 21 of gestation.
Perspectives
A decreased PDGF expression may be important in the pathogenesis of oligohydramnios-induced pulmonary hypoplasia and suggests that supplementation may provide useful therapeutic strategies.
Professor Chung-Ming Chen
Taipei Medical University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Oligohydramnios Decreases Platelet-Derived Growth Factor Expression in Fetal Rat Lungs, Neonatology, January 2007, Karger Publishers,
DOI: 10.1159/000102958.
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