Effect of Cigarette Smoke Exposure and Exercise on Abortion, Placental Vascularization, Human Chronic Gonadotropin Hormone and Birthweight

The purposes of this investigation were to examine the effects of exercise and smoking throughout pregnancy on placenta growth and vascularization, human chorionic gonadotropic hormone (HCG) level and birthweight. Rats in group 1 were selected as control group and were not in exposure of smoke and not exercised. Rats in group 2 were exercised for 5 days in week for 3 weeks. Rats in group 3 were in the cigarette smoke exposure without exercise. Finally, rats in group 4 were forced to exercise and were in the exposure of cigarette smoke, simultaneously. Six rats from each group were killed after 3 weeks of pregnancy and the number of blood vessels, placenta decidual thickness, and HCG level were analyzed. Birthweight and weight of offspring after 60 days in each group were also evaluated. Results showed that the number of blood vessels and HCG level were decrease in animals which exposed to smoke and exercise (P<0.05), however, the placenta decidua thickness did not changed significantly. The offspring birthweight in group 4 was decreased significantly (P<0.001) in comparison with control group. Accordingly, the offspring birthweight in group 3 and 4 was decrease significantly compared to group 2 (P<0.01). On the other hand, the weight of offspring in day 60 in group 3 was less than group 4. In conclusion, both exercise and smoking have negative effect on blood vessels, HCG level, and offspring birthweight, however, there is synergic effect when rats were in exposure of smoke and exercise, simultaneously.