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Maternal undernutrition does not alter Sertoli cell numbers or the expression of key developmental markers in the mid-gestation ovine fetal testis

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of maternal undernutrition on ovine fetal testis morphology and expression of relevant histological indicators. Maternal undernutrition, in sheep, has been reported, previously, to alter fetal ovary development, as indicated by delayed f...

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Autores principales: Andrade, Luis P, Rhind, Stewart M, Rae, Michael T, Kyle, Carol E, Jowett, Jamie, Lea, Richard G
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3584724/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23295129
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1477-5751-12-2
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author Andrade, Luis P
Rhind, Stewart M
Rae, Michael T
Kyle, Carol E
Jowett, Jamie
Lea, Richard G
author_facet Andrade, Luis P
Rhind, Stewart M
Rae, Michael T
Kyle, Carol E
Jowett, Jamie
Lea, Richard G
author_sort Andrade, Luis P
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of maternal undernutrition on ovine fetal testis morphology and expression of relevant histological indicators. Maternal undernutrition, in sheep, has been reported, previously, to alter fetal ovary development, as indicated by delayed folliculogenesis and the altered expression of ovarian apoptosis-regulating gene products, at day 110 of gestation. It is not known whether or not maternal undernutrition alters the same gene products in the day 110 fetal testis. DESIGN AND METHODS: Mature Scottish Blackface ewes were fed either 100% (Control; C) or 50% (low; L) of estimated metabolisable energy requirements of a pregnant ewe, from mating to day 110 of gestation. All pregnant ewes were euthanized at day 110 and a sub-set of male fetuses was randomly selected (6 C and 9 L) for histology studies designed to address the effect of nutritional state on several indices of testis development. Sertoli cell numbers were measured using a stereological method and Ki67 (cell proliferation index), Bax (pro-apoptosis), Mcl-1 (anti-apoptosis), SCF and c-kit ligand (development and apoptosis) gene expression was measured in Bouins-fixed fetal testis using immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed in numbers of Sertoli cells or testicular Ki67 positive cells. The latter were localised to the testicular cords and interstitium. Bax and Mcl-1 were localised specifically to the germ cells whereas c-kit was localised to both the cords and interstitium. SCF staining was very sparse. No treatment effects were observed for any of the markers examined. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that, unlike in the fetal ovary, maternal undernutrition for the first 110 days of gestation affects neither the morphology of the fetal testis nor the expression of gene products which regulate apoptosis. It is postulated that the effects of fetal undernutrition on testis function may be expressed through hypothalamic-pituitary changes.
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spelling pubmed-35847242013-03-02 Maternal undernutrition does not alter Sertoli cell numbers or the expression of key developmental markers in the mid-gestation ovine fetal testis Andrade, Luis P Rhind, Stewart M Rae, Michael T Kyle, Carol E Jowett, Jamie Lea, Richard G J Negat Results Biomed Research BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of maternal undernutrition on ovine fetal testis morphology and expression of relevant histological indicators. Maternal undernutrition, in sheep, has been reported, previously, to alter fetal ovary development, as indicated by delayed folliculogenesis and the altered expression of ovarian apoptosis-regulating gene products, at day 110 of gestation. It is not known whether or not maternal undernutrition alters the same gene products in the day 110 fetal testis. DESIGN AND METHODS: Mature Scottish Blackface ewes were fed either 100% (Control; C) or 50% (low; L) of estimated metabolisable energy requirements of a pregnant ewe, from mating to day 110 of gestation. All pregnant ewes were euthanized at day 110 and a sub-set of male fetuses was randomly selected (6 C and 9 L) for histology studies designed to address the effect of nutritional state on several indices of testis development. Sertoli cell numbers were measured using a stereological method and Ki67 (cell proliferation index), Bax (pro-apoptosis), Mcl-1 (anti-apoptosis), SCF and c-kit ligand (development and apoptosis) gene expression was measured in Bouins-fixed fetal testis using immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed in numbers of Sertoli cells or testicular Ki67 positive cells. The latter were localised to the testicular cords and interstitium. Bax and Mcl-1 were localised specifically to the germ cells whereas c-kit was localised to both the cords and interstitium. SCF staining was very sparse. No treatment effects were observed for any of the markers examined. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that, unlike in the fetal ovary, maternal undernutrition for the first 110 days of gestation affects neither the morphology of the fetal testis nor the expression of gene products which regulate apoptosis. It is postulated that the effects of fetal undernutrition on testis function may be expressed through hypothalamic-pituitary changes. BioMed Central 2013-01-08 /pmc/articles/PMC3584724/ /pubmed/23295129 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1477-5751-12-2 Text en Copyright ©2013 Andrade et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research
Andrade, Luis P
Rhind, Stewart M
Rae, Michael T
Kyle, Carol E
Jowett, Jamie
Lea, Richard G
Maternal undernutrition does not alter Sertoli cell numbers or the expression of key developmental markers in the mid-gestation ovine fetal testis
title Maternal undernutrition does not alter Sertoli cell numbers or the expression of key developmental markers in the mid-gestation ovine fetal testis
title_full Maternal undernutrition does not alter Sertoli cell numbers or the expression of key developmental markers in the mid-gestation ovine fetal testis
title_fullStr Maternal undernutrition does not alter Sertoli cell numbers or the expression of key developmental markers in the mid-gestation ovine fetal testis
title_full_unstemmed Maternal undernutrition does not alter Sertoli cell numbers or the expression of key developmental markers in the mid-gestation ovine fetal testis
title_short Maternal undernutrition does not alter Sertoli cell numbers or the expression of key developmental markers in the mid-gestation ovine fetal testis
title_sort maternal undernutrition does not alter sertoli cell numbers or the expression of key developmental markers in the mid-gestation ovine fetal testis
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3584724/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23295129
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1477-5751-12-2
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