Effects Of Intrauterine Growth Restriction During Late Pregnancy On The Ovine Fetel Thymocyte Apoptosis And Gene Expression Involved

This study investigated the effect of intrauterine growth restriction on the thymocyte apoptosis and gene expression of ovine fetus during late pregnancy.6ewes out of35Mongolian ewes were slaughtered at the beginning of the experiment and the remaining29animals were allocated to three different groups:Restricted Group1(RG1,0.175MJ kgw-075d-1, n=12), Restricted Group2(RG2,0.33MJ kgw-075d-1, n=9) and Control Group (CG, n=8). At140d of gestation,6ewes in each groups were slaughtered as before. The results indicated:(1) The fetal weight, daily growth rate, body measurement, thymus weghts and structure were significantly influenced in restricted groups with the decrease of maternal nutrition levels, moreover, the restricted degree was deeper with the lower nutrition levels.(2)T lymphocyte cells were reduced in fetal thymus and blood of RG2and RG1groups, moreover, the apoptotic cells were increased, which might be direct cause of the IUGR fetus immunocompromised.(3) With the decrease of maternal nutrition levels, for the apoptosis gene expression of fetal thymus, the expression levels of Bax, Fas genes had the trend to increase and the expression levels of Bcl-2, FasL genes trend to decrease among CG, RG2and RG1groups. In addition, the activation of Caspase-3, Caspase-8, Caspase-9were increased in RG2, RG1groups compared to CG group.