Hoffmann, R. A wiki for the life sciences where authorship matters. Nature Genetics (2008)

Editor

Personal info

View

About

Terms

Javascript disabled

Please enable Javascript support in your browser to use this application.

Instructions on how to enable JavaScript on different browsers can be found here: http://www.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=23852.

[edit this page]

Gatford, K.L. et al.

Kathryn L. Gatford, Julie A. Owens, Shaofu Li, Timothy J. M. Moss, John P. Newnham, John R. G. Challis, Deborah M. Sloboda,

Repeated betamethasone treatment of pregnant sheep programs persistent reductions in circulating IGF-I and IGF-binding proteins in progeny.

Exposure to synthetic glucocorticoids in utero markedly improves survival after preterm birth, but repeated exposures impair fetal and postnatal growth and are associated with evidence of insulin resistance in later life. The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis is an important regulator of growth and metabolism before and after birth. We have therefore investigated the effects of repeated maternal betamethasone injections on plasma IGF-I, IGF-II, and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBP) in fetal and postnatal progeny in the sheep. Pregnant sheep carrying male fetuses were injected with saline or betamethasone at 104, 111, and 118 days of gestation (dG, term approximately 150 dG). Plasma samples were collected postmortem from fetuses before (75, 84, 101 dG) or after one (109 dG), two (116 dG), or three (121-122, 132-133, 145-147 dG) doses of saline or betamethasone and from progeny at 42 and 84 days of age. Fetal weight was reduced after two or more maternal betamethasone injections, and this effect persisted to term. Repeated betamethasone exposures reduced plasma IGF-I and total IGFBP in fetuses at 133 dG and progeny at 84 days, and reduced plasma IGFBP-3 at 84 days. Fetal plasma IGF-II tended to increase transiently at 109 dG following the first betamethasone injection. Fetal, placental, and/or postnatal weights correlated positively with concomitant plasma IGF-I, IGF-II, and total IGFBP. We conclude that repeated exposure to synthetic glucocorticoids in utero programs the IGF axis before and after birth, which may contribute to the adverse effects of betamethasone exposure on growth and metabolism.[1]

References

Repeated betamethasone treatment of pregnant sheep programs persistent reductions in circulating IGF-I and IGF-binding proteins in progeny. Gatford, K.L., Owens, J.A., Li, S., Moss, T.J., Newnham, J.P., Challis, J.R., Sloboda, D.M. Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab. (2008) [Pubmed]

Annotations and hyperlinks in this abstract are from individual authors of WikiGenes or automatically generated by the WikiGenes Data Mining Engine. The abstract is from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.About WikiGenes Open Access Licence Privacy Policy Terms of Use apsburg

The world's first wiki where authorship really matters (Nature Genetics, 2008). Due credit and reputation for authors. Imagine a global collaborative knowledge base for original thoughts. Search thousands of articles and collaborate with scientists around the globe.