Consequences of gestational stress in kidneys of male mice

• Grant number: 23/00559-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2023
• End date: June 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Medical Clinics
• Principal Investigator: Jose Antonio Rocha Gontijo
• Grantee: Eduarda Vitta de Mello
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas (FCM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07607-8 - OCRC - Obesity and Comorbidities Research Center, AP.CEPID

Abstract

Non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) are an important public health problem, generating a high economic cost to the health system. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the most prevalent category of NCDs, accounting for nearly half of NCD-related mortality. CVDs often co-occur with impaired renal function, with CVD being twice as common in patients with renal failure. Stress is one of the most critical determinants of health throughout life and increases the risk for NCDs. However, there are few studies evaluating the correlation between gestational stress and renal alterations in offspring. For the study of developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) several programming models have been used, exposing laboratory animals to protein or food restriction, glucocorticoid injection and stress during different gestational periods. Although there is evidence that prenatal stress is associated with premature birth, small-for-gestational-age babies and low birth weight their contribution to the development of kidney disease remains relatively unexplored. Thus, this project aims to investigate the number of nephrons and the global profile of renal proteins in the offspring of males with 42 days of life, whose mothers were subjected to stress during pregnancy. We also aimed to evaluate the occurrence of arterial hypertension from the 8th to the 24th week of life.