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Long-Term Hypoxia Increases Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase Expression in the Ovine Fetal Adrenal

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Abstract

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that fetal adrenal nitric oxide synthase (NOS) is elevated in response to long-term hypoxia (LTH). Pregnant ewes were maintained at high altitude (3820 m)for approximately the last 100 days of gestation. Between days 138 and 141 of gestation, adrenal glands were collected from LTH fetuses and age-matched normoxic controls. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western analysis were used to quantify NOS expression, and NOS distribution was examined by immunohistochemistry and double-staining immunofluorescence for endothelial NOS (eNOS) and 17α-hydroxylase (CYP17). Neuronal NOS (nNOS) was expressed at very low levels and with no differences between groups. Expression of eNOS was significantly greater in the LTH group compared with control. Neuronal NOS was distributed throughout the cortex while the greatest density of eNOS was observed in the zona fasciculata/reticularis area and eNOS co-localized with CYP17. We conclude that LTH enhances eNOS expression in the inner adrenal cortex which may play a role in regulation of cortisol biosynthesis in the LTH fetus.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Perinatal Biology, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, California, 92350, California, USA

    Tshepo R. Monau MS, Vladimir E. Vargas BS, Steven M. Yellon PhD & Charles A. Ducsay PhD

  2. Oakwood College, Huntsville, Alabama, USA

    Natalie King BS

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma, USA

    Dean A. Myers PhD

Authors
  1. Tshepo R. Monau MS
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  2. Vladimir E. Vargas BS
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  3. Natalie King BS
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  4. Steven M. Yellon PhD
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  5. Dean A. Myers PhD
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  6. Charles A. Ducsay PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charles A. Ducsay PhD.

Additional information

This study was supported by National Institutes of Health Grants HD33147 (DAM) and HD31226 (CAD).

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Monau, T.R., Vargas, V.E., King, N. et al. Long-Term Hypoxia Increases Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase Expression in the Ovine Fetal Adrenal. Reprod. Sci. 16, 865–874 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719109336678

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719109336678

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