Effect of antenatal dexamethasone on the expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase in the lungs of postnatal pups

Seminars in Perinatology
C H LinT F Yeh

Abstract

Activities of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) are developmentally regulated and its presence at birth may play a role in the transition of cardiopulmonary circulation. Antenatal dexamethasone (Dex) therapy accelerates fetal lung maturation. We speculate that Dex therapy may enhance pulmonary eNOS protein expression in the newborn. This article examines whether antenatal Dex therapy affected the expression of eNOS in the lungs of rat pups in the postnatal period. Time-dated pregnant Wistar rats were subjected to 2 doses of Dex (0.8 mg/kg, intramuscularly, daily) or equivalent volume of normal saline at the 18th and 19th gestational day and delivered naturally. The newborn pups were randomly assigned to 4 groups by age: days 1, 3, 5, and 7. After homogenization, abundance of eNOS protein in lungs was determined by Western blot analysis. There were 7 dams in each group. Mean body weights of the pups in the Dex group were lighter than those in the control at birth and remained stunted up to day 7 (5.68+/-0.47 g v 6.34+/-0.47 g, P <.01). However, there were no differences in wet lung weights and lung/body weight ratios between both groups in the study period. Abundance of eNOS protein expression decreased in both the contro...Continue Reading

Citations

Nov 13, 2010·Journal of Perinatology : Official Journal of the California Perinatal Association·K B Tam TamJ N Martin
Feb 14, 2008·Journal of Pharmacological Sciences·Masaki ArimaYasushi Koitabashi

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