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Maternal exercise during pregnancy alters vascular smooth muscle relaxation in offspring
Author(s) -
Bahls Martin,
Sheldon Ryan D,
Taheripour Pardis,
Clifford Kerry A,
Foust Kallie B,
Cabot Ryan A,
Newcomer Sean C
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.1138.6
Subject(s) - offspring , pregnancy , medicine , sodium nitroprusside , endocrinology , vasodilation , gestation , nitric oxide , biology , genetics
The intrauterine environment is influenced by maternal behavior and known to effect lifelong atherosclerotic disease susceptibility in offspring. The purpose of this investigation was to test the hypothesis that maternal exercise during pregnancy increases endothelial function in offspring. A total of 8 pubertal gilts, six months of age were randomly assigned to an exercise (n=4) or sedentary (n=4) group throughout pregnancy. Exercise consisted of treadmill running for 20–45 minutes, five times per week, for all but the last week of gestation. Dose‐dependent endothelium‐dependent (bradykinin (BK); 10 −10 –10 −6 M) and –independent (sodium nitroprusside (SNP); 10 −10 –10 −4 M) vascular relaxation was assessed in femoral arteries of offspring at 3, 5, and 9 months of age using wire‐myography. Exercise had no effect on litter characteristics. No main effects were observed for BK relaxation. However, exercise during pregnancy had a main effect on SNP relaxation (p=0.01). Specifically, decreased SNP relaxation was observed in the offspring of the exercise compared to the sedentary sows at 3 (p<0.01) and 9 (p<0.01) months of age. These results demonstrate that exercise for the finite duration of pregnancy has long lasting functional effects on the vasculature. Future studies will need to determine whether the observed reductions in vascular smooth muscle function affect atherosclerotic disease susceptibility.