查看文章

Placental insufficiency is a major factor associated with pregnancy complications such as miscarriages, intrauterine growth restriction and pre-eclampsia. Recent studies have identified the Brown Norway (BN) rat as a natural ‘model’ of placental insufficiency associated with decreased trophoblast remodeling of maternal uterine arteries.

Genetic pathways involved in angiogenesis and immune cell regulation are dysregulated in the placenta of BN rats.

Global gene expression in placentas from BN rats were compared with that from Sprague–Dawley (SD) controls at 17.5 days of gestation using the Affimetrix Rat 1.0 microarray chip, and results confirmed with real-time PCR and immunoblotting.

We found significant differences in 272 genes with 108 being up-regulated and 164 down-regulated in BN placentas compared to SD placentas. BN placentas overexpressed …