Gender Differences in the Development of Insulin Resistance in Adult Sheep As Result of Antenatal Betamethasone

Exposure of fetuses that are candidates for premature delivery in the early part of the third trimester to Betamethasone is an accepted strategy to accelerate lung development and improve survival. Recently we showed that adult sheep exposed during gestation to Betamethasone had elevated blood pressure and attenuated baroreflex control of the heart rate. These changes involved activation of the renin angiotensin system. Here we tested the hypothesis that fetal exposure to Betamethasone will lead to development of insulin resistance in adulthood. In conscious adult sheep (1.8 years), exposed to betamethasone (Beta) or vehicle (Veh) at the 80th day of gestation and delivered at full term, plasma samples were collected for glucose, insulin and leptin. Baseline glucose was higher in male Beta (99 ± 4, n=8) than male Veh sheep (77 ± 2 mg/dl, n=4, P< 0.05), as were plasma insulin (3.03 ± 0.5 vs 1.7 ± 0.4 ng/ml) and leptin (3.2 ± 0.45 vs 2.3 ± 0.16 ng/ml) levels. Female Beta sheep had significantly higher glucose (134 ± 18, vs 90 ± 10 mg/dl), insulin (2.95 ± 0.57 vs 1.4 ± 0.4 ng/ml) and leptin levels (3.9 ± 0.13 vs 2.9 ± 0.47 ng/ml) than female Veh sheep. Female Beta sheep had significantly higher glucose and leptin levels compared to the male Beta group. These results demonstrate that in utero exposure to Betamethasone can have long‐lasting programming effects leading to insulin resistance and these effects are influenced by gender. HD047584