Intragestational role of ghrelin on posnatal development and reproductive physiology of the female offspring in mice.

DIEZ MARCELA; TORRES PJ; FIGUEROA SILVIA; EUGENIA L; CARLINI VP; VINCENTO LM; MARTINI AC

Córdoba

Congreso; XVII Jornada de Investigación de la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; 2016

SECyT - Facultad de Ciencias Médicas

Mammal´s reproductive function depends on their nutritional status, particularly in females. Among the proteins that link energy balance with reproduction, stands Ghrelin (Ghr). Since its plasmatic concentrations physiologically increases during gestation, it has been proposed that Ghr exerts an important role in pregnancy success and/or pre/postnatal development of the offspring.The objective of this study was to evaluate, in mice, the effects of intragestational exogenous Ghr administration or intragestational endogenous Ghr inhibition (by an antagonist) on the posnatal development of the female offspring.Dams were injected (s.c.) during the whole pregnancy with: Ghr (4 nmol/animal/day), an antagonist (Ant: (D-Lys3)GHRP-6; 6 nmol/animal/day) or the vehicle (C: isotonic solution). Their litters were evaluated for posnatal growth and neurobiologic development. Since in previous experiments we found that the intragestational treatment with Ant brought female sexual maturation forward (evaluated as vaginal opening), in this study we evaluated peri-puberal ovaries histology and plasma concentrations of LH and IGF-1. Results were analyzed by ANOVA (of repeated measures when necessary).Neither daily intake nor dam´s weight was modified by the treatments. Litter growth or physical/neurobiological maturation weren´t altered either. The female pups of dams intragestationally treated with Ant exhibited, at posnatal day 23, a higher ovarian volume (Ant=1085.7±64.0mm3 vs Ghr=663.3±102.8mm3 and C=512.3±116.4mm3; n=4-6 ovaries/treatment, p<0.01) and significantly more follicles bigger than 200µ/ovario (Ant=13.5±1.3 vs Ghr=5.8±1.5 and C=4.5±1.3; n=4-6 ovaries/treatment, p<0.01) with respect to Ghr or C.No significant differences between groups were detected on IGF-1 concentrations (120.5±13.6ng/ml, n=25). Plasma LH levels were undetectable at this point (postnatal day 23), although ovary activation was already registered. Our results suggest that endogenous Ghr decrease during gestation exert long lasting effects on female litter, particularly on sexual maturation.