In utero exposure to air pollution lowers erythrocyte antioxidant defense and decreases weight in adult mice

In this study, we tested the influence of ambient air pollution on different phases of development of adult mice. With respect to adult weight, the animals that had spent their in utero period exposed to pollution showed less weight gain over their lifetime, as well as lower activity levels of the antioxidant enzymes catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Our study suggests that contact with atmospheric pollutants during the foetal period produces important changes on enzymatic erythrocyte antioxidant defense and weight in adult mice. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In utero exposure to immunosuppressive drugs.

The number of pregnant women receiving immunosuppressants for anti-rejection therapy or autoimmune diseases is increasing. All immunosuppressive drugs cross the placenta, raising questions about the long-term outcome of the children exposed in utero. There is no higher risk of congenital anomalies. However, an increased incidence of prematurity, intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) and generally low birth weight has been reported, as well as maternal hypertension and preeclampsia. The most frequent neonatal complications are those associated with prematurity and IUGR, as well as adrenal insufficiency with corticosteroids, immunological disturbances with azathioprine and cyclosporine, and hyperkalemia with tacrolimus. The long-term follow-up of infants exposed to immunosuppressants in utero is still limited and experimental studies raise the question whether there could be an increased incidence at adult age of some pathologies including renal insufficiency, hypertension and diabetes.

Exposition aux immunosuppresseurs in utero [Exposure in utero to immunosuppressives]

The number of pregnant women receiving immunosuppressive therapy is increasing. Use of immunosuppressants during pregnancy is indicated for anti-rejection therapy in transplantation patients and treatment of autoimmune diseases. Despite the maternal and fetal risks of these pregnancies, the proportion of surviving infants is improving and the possibility that a pregnancy could occur in these women during their childbearing years should be considered. All immunosuppressant drugs and their metabolites cross the placenta, raising questions about the long-term outcome of the children exposed to these agents in utera. There is no increased risk of congenital anomalies. However, there is an elevated incidence of prematurity, intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) and therefore low birthweight, as well as maternal hypertension and preeclampsia. The most frequent neonatal complications are those associated with prematurity and IUGR, as well as adrenal insufficiency with corticosteroids, immunological disturbances with azathioprine and cyclosporin, and hyperkalemia with tacrolimus. The long-term follow-up of infants exposed to immunosuppressants in utero is still limited and experimental studies raise the question whether there could be an increased incidence at adult age of some pathologies including renal insufficiency, hypertension and diabetes. The follow-up of these infants should be carefully organized and multidisciplinary, taking the perinatal context into account.

In Utero Exposure to Antiretroviral Drugs: Effect on Birth Weight and Growth Among HIV-exposed Uninfected Children in Brazil.

BACKGROUND There are concerns about the effects of in utero exposure to antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) on the development of HIV-exposed but uninfected (HEU) children. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether in utero exposure to ARVs is associated with lower birth weight/height and reduced growth during the first 2 years of life. METHODS This cohort study was conducted among HEU infants born between 1996 and 2010 in Tertiary children's hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Weight was measured by mechanical scale, and height was measured by measuring board. Z-scores for weight-for-age (WAZ), length-for-age (LAZ) and weight-for-length were calculated. We modeled trajectories by mixed-effects models and adjusted for mother's age, CD4 cell count, viral load, year of birth and family income. RESULTS A total of 588 HEU infants were included of whom 155 (26%) were not exposed to ARVs, 114 (19%) were exposed early (first trimester) and 319 (54%) later. WAZ were lower among infants exposed early compared with infants exposed later: adjusted differences were -0.52 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.99 to -0.04, P = 0.02) at birth and -0.22 (95% CI: -0.47 to 0.04, P = 0.10) during follow-up. LAZ were lower during follow-up: -0.35 (95% CI: -0.63 to -0.08, P = 0.01). There were no differences in weight-for-length scores. Z-scores of infants exposed late during pregnancy were similar to unexposed infants. CONCLUSIONS In HEU children, early exposure to ARVs was associated with lower WAZ at birth and lower LAZ up to 2 years of life. Growth of HEU children needs to be monitored closely.

In-utero exposure to chemotherapy: What are the long term effects?

There is not a large body of evidence on in-utero exposure to chemotherapy for pregnancy-associated cancers to help determine the long term effects on offspring. This study is a systematic review of long term follow-up to find evidence for adverse outcomes in exposed offspring. In order for studies to be eligible for this systematic review, they had to have a median follow up of at least 24 months with the resulting child. PubMed, Medline, and Scopus were the databases used, and we included all eligible articles, regardless of the date of publication. The search resulted in six articles meeting the eligibility requirements. The review of findings of these studies suggested that there is not enough evidence to make a determination of the risk of chemotherapy for the offspring. Exposed children in the sample of reviewed papers did have some medical conditions, but the rate and type did not differ from the non-exposed population. However, a limitation of this literature review is the very small sample size of publications on this important topic. This finding of few studies on this topic is an important result of this systematic review. More research and long term follow-up studies must be conducted to address this issue.^

In utero exposure to cigarette chemicals induces sex-specific disruption of one-carbon metabolism and DNA methylation in the human fetal liver

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. Acknowledgements: We thank Ms Margaret Fraser, Ms Samantha Flannigan, and Dr Wing Yee Kwong for their expert assistance. The staff at Grampian NHS Pregnancy Counselling Service were essential for collecting fetuses. We thank Professor Geoffrey Hammond and Dr Marc Simard, University of British Colombia for helpful comments on the manuscript. Supported by grants as follows: Scottish Senior Clinical Fellowship (AJD); Chief Scientist Office (Scottish Executive, CZG/1/109 to PAF, & CZG/4/742 (PAF & PJOS); NHS Grampian Endowments 08/02 (PAF, SB & PJOS); the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no 212885 (PAF & SMR); the Medical Research Council grants MR/L010011/1 (PAF & PJOS) and MR/K018310/1 (AJD). None of the funding bodies played any role in the design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, nor in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication

Association between in-utero exposure to diesel exhaust and N-acetyl-cysteine supplementation in hyperlipidemic pregnant mice and development of atherosclerosis at multiple vascular sites in the offspring

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

In utero and postnatal maternal smoking and asthma in adolescence

Background: Asthma in early childhood has been associated with maternal smoking during pregnancy and parental smoking soon after birth. However, less is known about these exposures and the development of asthma symptoms in adolescence. Methods: Data were taken from the Mater University Study, of Pregnancy, a large birth cohort study of mothers and children enrolled in Brisbane, Australia, beginning in 1981. Smoking was assessed at 2 stages during pregnancy and at the 6-month and 5-year follow-up visits. Asthma was assessed from maternal reports that were provided when the child was age 14 years. We conducted multivariable multinomial logistic regression analyses to assess the effect of maternal smoking on asthma symptoms. Results: There was a strong sex interaction such that girls whose mothers had smoked heavily (20 or more cigarettes per day) in pregnancy and at the 6-month follow up had increased odds of experiencing asthma symptoms at age 14 (odds ratio = 1.96; 95% confidence interval = 1.25-3.08). The contribution of heavy smoking during pregnancy appeared to be stronger than heavy smoking after the birth. No similar associations were seen for boys. Conclusion: Female adolescents whose mothers smoked heavily during the fetal period and the early months of life have increased risk of asthma symptoms in adolescence. In utero exposure to heavy smoking was found to have a stronger effect than postnatal environmental tobacco exposure.

In utero and lactational exposure to fenvalerate disrupts reproductive function in female rats

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Genistein reduces the noxious effects of in utero bisphenol A exposure on the rat prostate gland at weaning and in adulthood

Bisphenol A (BPA) is one hormonally active chemical with potential deleterious effects on reproductive organs, including breast and prostate. In contrast, genistein (GEN) is the major phytoestrogen of soy that presents potential protective effects against hormone-dependent cancers, including that of the prostate. Thus, pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with BPA at 25 or 250 μg/kg/day by gavage from gestational day (GD) 10-21 with or without dietary GEN at 250 mg/kg/chow (∼5.5 mg/kg/day). Then, male offspring from different litters were euthanized on post-natal day (PND) 21 and 180. At PND21, BPA 25 exposure induced early prostatic changes while dietary GEN attenuated some deleterious actions this xenoestrogen on epithelial cell proliferation levels, androgen receptor expression and prostatic architecture in male offspring. At PND180, a significant increase in incidence of prostatic multifocal inflammation/reactive hyperplasia and atypical hyperplasia were observed in male offspring from dams that received BPA 25. On the other hand, maternal GEN feeding attenuated some the adverse effects of BPA 25 on prostate disease at late-in-life. This way, the present findings point to preventive action of dietary GEN on deleterious effects of gestational BPA exposure in both early and late prostate development in offspring F1.

AN ESTIMATION OF IN UTERO DRUG EXPOSURE BY DETERMINANTS OF FREQUENCY AND DISTRIBUTION OF MATERNAL DRUG CONSUMPTION

Data derived from 1,194 gravidas presenting at the observation unit of a city/county hospital between October 11, 1979 through December 7, 1979 were evaluated with respect to the proportion ingesting drugs during pregnancy. The mean age of the mother at the time of the interview was 22.0 years; 43.0 percent were Black; 34.0 percent Latin-American, 21.0 percent White and 2.0 percent other; mean gravida was 2.5 pregnancies; mean parity was 1.0; and mean number of previous abortions was 0.34. Completed interview data was available for 1,119 gravida, corresponding urinalyses for 997 subjects. Ninety and one-tenth percent (90.1 percent) of the subjects reported ingestion of one or more drug preparation(s) (prescription, OTC, or substances used for recreational purposes) during pregnancy with a range of 0 to 11 substances and a mean of 2.7. Dietary supplements (vitamins and minerals) were most frequently reported followed by non-narcotic analgesics. Seventy-six and one tenth percent (76.1 percent) of the population reported consumption of prescription medication, 42.5 percent reported consumption of over-the-counter medications, 45.7 percent reported consumption of a substance for recreational purposes and 4.3 percent reported illicit consumption of a substance. For selected substances, no measurable difference was found between obtaining the information from the interview method or from a urinalysis assay. ^

DES exposure in utero : vaginal and cervical cancers and other abnormalities associated with exposure in utero to diethylstilbestrol and related synthetic hormones.

Mode of access: Internet.

Reproductive development and function of female rats exposed to di-eta-butyl-phthalate (DBP) in utero and during lactation

Phthalates are environmental contaminants used in the production of plastics, cosmetics and medical devices. Studies on the effects of phthalates on female reproductive health are particularly sparse and mostly restricted to high-dose exposure in rats. In the present study, pregnant rats were treated with 100 mg/kg-d of di-eta-butyl-phthalate (DBP) or only the vehicle (control group), from GD 12 to GD 20 for evaluation of reproductive outcomes and fetal gonads analysis (F0), and from GD 12 to PND 21 to evaluate reproductive development and function on F1 female offspring. Results showed that all parameters were comparable between groups, although there was a significant increase in the fetal weight after DBP exposure. However, the body weight at birth was normal. Based on these data we can conclude that, in these experimental conditions, DBP did not disturb the reproductive development or function of female rats. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.