Maternal exposure to cadmium during gestation perturbs the vascular system of the adult rat offspring

Journal Article · Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.taap.2011.01.001· OSTI ID:21535242

Montenegro, Marcela; Castillo, Paula; Urrutia, Manuel ^[1]; Saez, Daniel ^[2]; Hirsch, Sandra ^[1]; Zepeda, Ramiro ^[3]; Llanos, Miguel N ^[1]

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1. Laboratory of Nutrition and Metabolic Regulation, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INTA), University of Chile, Casilla 138-11, Santiago (Chile)
2. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Chile, Casilla 138-11, Santiago (Chile)
3. Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Casilla 138-11, Santiago (Chile)

Several cardiovascular diseases (CVD) observed in adulthood have been associated with environmental influences during fetal growth. Here, we show that maternal exposure to cadmium, a ubiquitously distributed heavy metal and main component of cigarette smoke is able to induce cardiovascular morpho-functional changes in the offspring at adult age. Heart morphology and vascular reactivity were evaluated in the adult offspring of rats exposed to 30 ppm of cadmium during pregnancy. Echocardiographic examination shows altered heart morphology characterized by a concentric left ventricular hypertrophy. Also, we observed a reduced endothelium-dependent reactivity in isolated aortic rings of adult offspring, while endothelium-independent reactivity remained unaltered. These effects were associated with an increase of hem-oxygenase 1 (HO-1) expression in the aortas of adult offspring. The expression of HO-1 was higher in females than males, a finding likely related to the sex-dependent expression of the vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1), which was lower in the adult female. All these long-term consequences were observed along with normal birth weights and absence of detectable levels of cadmium in fetal and adult tissues of the offspring. In placental tissues however, cadmium levels were detected and correlated with increased NF-{kappa}B expression - a transcription factor sensitive to inflammation and oxidative stress - suggesting a placentary mechanism that affect genes related to the development of the cardiovascular system. Our results provide, for the first time, direct experimental evidence supporting that exposure to cadmium during pregnancy reprograms cardiovascular development of the offspring which in turn may conduce to a long term increased risk of CVD.

• OSTI ID: 21535242
• Journal Information: Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, Vol. 251, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.taap.2011.01.001; PII: S0041-008X(11)00003-2; Copyright (c) 2011 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; ISSN 0041-008X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
ADULTS
AORTA
CADMIUM
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES
ENDOTHELIUM
FEMALES
GENES
HAZARDS
HEART
HEAVY METALS
HYPERTROPHY
MALES
MORPHOLOGY
PARTURITION
PREGNANCY
PROGENY
RATS
SEX DEPENDENCE
TOBACCO SMOKES
TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS
AEROSOLS
AGE GROUPS
ANIMAL TISSUES
ANIMALS
ARTERIES
BLOOD VESSELS
BODY
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
COLLOIDS
DISEASES
DISPERSIONS
ELEMENTS
MAMMALS
METALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES
PROTEINS
RESIDUES
RODENTS
SMOKES
SOLS
VERTEBRATES