• Fadoua Saadani-Makki, Sujatha Kannan, Xin Lu, James Janisse, Elizabeth Dawe, Samuel Edwin, Roberto Romero, and Diane Chugani.
• Carman and Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA.
• Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 2008 Dec 1; 199 (6): 651.e1-7.

ObjectiveThis study was undertaken to determine whether maternal intrauterine endotoxin administration leads to neurobehavioral deficits in newborn rabbits.Study DesignPregnant New Zealand white rabbits were injected with 1 mL saline solution (n = 8) or 20 microg/kg of lipopolysaccharide in saline solution (n = 8) into the uterine wall on day 28/31 of gestation. On postnatal day 1, kits (saline solution [n = 30] and lipolysaccharide in saline solution [n = 18] from 4 consecutive litters) underwent neurobehavioral testing. Neonatal brains were stained for microglial cells and myelin.ResultsKits in the lipopolysaccharide in saline solution group were hypertonic and demonstrated significant impairment in posture, righting reflex, locomotion, and feeding, along with neuroinflammation indicated by activated microglia and hypomyelination in the periventricular regions. A greater mortality was noted in the lipopolysaccharide in saline solution group (16 stillbirths from 3 litters vs 3 from 1 litter).ConclusionMaternal intrauterine endotoxin administration leads to white matter injury and motor deficits in the newborn rabbit, resulting in a phenotype that resembles those found in periventricular leukomalacia and cerebral palsy.

32 keywords...

hide…