J Anesth Perioper Med. 2017;4(3):101-107. https://doi.org/10.24015/ebcmed.japm.2017.0026

A Model of Intrauterine Growth Restriction Induced by Bilateral Uterine Vessel Clamping in Pregnant Rats

Min Diao1,2, Hao Li1,2, Yi Qu2, Hui Liu1,2, Yu-Shan Ma1,2, and Xue-Mei Lin1,2

From 1Department of Anesthesiology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; 2Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children, Sichuan University, Ministry of Education, Chengdu, China.

Correspondence to Dr. Xue-Mei Lin at xuemeilinscu@163.com.

EBCMED ID: ebcmed.japm.2017.0026 DOI: 10.24015/ebcmed.japm.2017.0026


Abstract

Background
Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is considered to be a major risk for cerebral palsy and disability after birth. However, IUGR lacks effective treatment strategies. We aimed to establish a rat model of bilateral uterine artery ischemia-reperfusion as a surgical model of IUGR.

Methods
At the 17th day of pregnancy, six Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into sham (NOR) and growth restriction (GR) groups. In the GR groups, four small artery clamps were used to occlude the uterine vessels near the lower and upper ends of the bilateral horns for 25 min; then, the clamps were removed, and the horns were placed back into the abdomen cavity. In the sham-operated animals, the uterine horns were exposed for 25 min without artery clamping. After labour and delivery, the death rates and weights during the first 8 days of newborn rats were recorded. A pathological examination was performed with hematoxylin- eosin staining (HE) staining and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick endlabeling staining (TUNEL) on 4-day-old and 8-day-old brain tissues of the newborn rats.

Results
The mortality within the first 24 h of rats in the GR group were increased (66.7% vs 0.0% ), and their daily weights within the first 8 postnatal days were decreased. In addition, the karyopyknosis percentages of 4-day-old and 8-day-old rats were increased (4-day-old: 45% vs 11%; 8-day-old: 34.7% vs 5.3%), and the numbers of TUNEL-positive cells were increased (4-day-old: 110 vs 12.7; 8-day-old: 146.7 vs 4).

Conclusions
This model of foetal IUGR produced a decrease in weight, an increase in the death rate within 24 h and an increase in apoptosis in newborn rats. The establishment of the model was successful. (Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Major State Basic Research Development Program, and the Grants from Science and Technology Bureau of Sichuan Province.)

Article Type
Original Article

Declaration of Interests
All authors have no conflicts of interest to declare for this work.

Acknowledgements
Our work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (No.81330016, 81270724, 81630038), the Major State Basic Research Development Program (2013CB967404), and the Grants from Science and Technology Bureau of Sichuan province (2014SZ0149, 2014JY0184, 2016TD0002, 2016SZ0048).

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