Morphological evaluation of the cerebral blood vessels in the late gestation fetal sheep following hypoxia in utero

Ana Aradhna Baburamani, Camden Yeung-Wah Lo, Margie Esmeralda Zakhem, David William Walker

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12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Hypoxia can significantly contribute to the development of permanent brain injury in the term neonate; however the response of cerebral blood vessels is not well understood. This study aimed to quantitatively measure vascular density and morphology using laminin immunohistochemistry as a marker of blood vessels, and determine the effects of a single, severe bout of hypoxia (umbilical cord occlusion, UCO) late in gestation on the developing cerebrovasculature in fetal sheep. At 124-126days gestation singleton fetal sheep underwent surgery for implantation of catheters and placement of an inflatable cuff around the umbilical cord. A 10min UCO or sham UCO (n=5) occurred at 132days gestation. Fetal brains were collected at 24h (n=5) or 48h (n=4) after UCO for vascular density and morphology analysis of laminin immunohistochemistry. 48h following a single, brief bout of severe hypoxia late in gestation decreased vascular density was seen in the caudate nucleus and no changes in vascular morphology occurred. However closer analysis revealed a significant shift in the frequency of smaller (
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1 - 9
Number of pages9
JournalMicrovascular Research
Volume85
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013

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