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Long-Term Pulmonary Effects of Intrauterine Exposure to Endotoxin Following Preterm Birth in Sheep

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Abstract

Our aim was to determine whether fetal exposure to intraamniotic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) persistently alters the lungs following moderate preterm birth. Fetal sheep were exposed to LPS (1 mg/d) or saline from 0.75 to preterm birth at 0.90 of gestation. Eleven weeks after preterm birth, lung structure was unaltered. Interleukin (IL)-1β messenger RNA (mRNA) levels were elevated in lungs of LPS-exposed lambs (P < .05) but IL-1β protein levels were unaltered. Lung mRNA levels of IL-6, IL-8 and tumor necrosis factor α, and percentage of inflammatory cells were not different between groups. Surfactant protein (SP)-A and SP-C mRNA levels and SP-B tissue protein expression were higher in LPS-exposed lambs than controls (all P < .05); however, expression of SP-A and SP-C proteins was reduced. Prenatal LPS exposure causes a persistent increase in gene expression of proinflammatory mediators and surfactant proteins and a decrease in lung tissue SP-A and -C protein expression after preterm birth, which may affect lung immunity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy & Developmental Biology, Monash University, 3800, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Anzari Atik BSc, Hons, Foula Sozo PhD, Takushi Hanita MD, Richard Harding PhD, DSc & Robert De Matteo PhD

  2. Sansom Institute for Health Research and School of Pharmacy & Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia

    Sandra Orgeig PhD & Lakshmi Suri MSc

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  1. Anzari Atik BSc, Hons
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  2. Foula Sozo PhD
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  3. Sandra Orgeig PhD
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Correspondence to Robert De Matteo PhD.

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Atik, A., Sozo, F., Orgeig, S. et al. Long-Term Pulmonary Effects of Intrauterine Exposure to Endotoxin Following Preterm Birth in Sheep. Reprod. Sci. 19, 1352–1364 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719112450327

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