Key result
Undernutrition in utero via maternal food restriction in mice increased systolic blood pressure (P<0.01 at 16 weeks) and induced cardiac remodeling, concomitant with augmented angiotensinogen expression.
p-value: p=<0.01
Fetal undernutrition in mice leads to increased systolic blood pressure and cardiac remodeling in adulthood, potentially mediated by the local cardiac angiotensin system.
Adds to developmental origins literature in mice; leaves open translation to human cardiovascular risk.
Evidence has emerged that undernutrition in utero is a risk factor for cardiovascular disorders in adulthood, along with genetic and environmental factors. Recently, the local expression of angiotensinogen and related bioactive substances has been demonstrated to play a pivotal role in cardiac remodeling, i.e. fibrosis and hypertrophy. The aim of the present study was to clarify the possible involvement of the local cardiac angiotensin system in fetal undernutrition-induced cardiovascular disorders. We developed a mouse model of undernutrition in utero by maternal food restriction, in which offspring (UN offspring) showed an increase in systolic blood pressure (8 wk of age, P < 0.05; and 16 wk, P < 0.01), perivascular fibrosis of the coronary artery (16 wk, P < 0.05) and cardiac cardiomegaly (16 wk, P < 0.01), and cardiomyocyte enlargement, concomitant with a significant augmentation of angiotensinogen (P < 0.05) and endothelin-1 (P < 0.01) mRNA expression and a tendency to increase in immunostaining for both angiotensin II and endothelin-1 in the left ventricles (16 wk). These findings suggest that fetal undernutrition activated the local cardiac angiotensin system-associated bioactive substances, which contributed, at least partly, to the development of cardiac remodeling in later life, in concert with the effects of increase in blood pressure.
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Kawamura et al. (2006) studied Cardiovascular disorders. Undernutrition in utero (maternal food restriction) was evaluated on Systolic blood pressure, perivascular fibrosis, cardiac cardiomegaly, and mRNA expression of angiotensinogen and endothelin-1 (p=<0.01). Undernutrition in utero via maternal food restriction in mice increased systolic blood pressure (P<0.01 at 16 weeks) and induced cardiac remodeling, concomitant with augmented angiotensinogen expression.
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