A longitudinal pilot study on cognition and cerebral hemodynamics in a mouse model of preeclampsia superimposed on hypertension : looking at mothers and their offspring
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Abstract(s)
Preeclampsia is a common hypertensive disorder in pregnant women and whose
causes and consequences have focused primarily on cardiovascular outcomes on the
mother and offspring, often without taking into consideration the possible effects on
the brain. One possible cause of preeclampsia has been attributed to alterations in
the renin-angiotensin system, which has also been linked to cognitive decline. In this
pilot study, we use a transgenic mouse model that chronically overexpresses human
angiotensinogen and renin (R+A
+ mice) that displayed characteristics of preeclampsia
such as proteinuria during gestation. Offspring of these mothers as well as from
control mothers were also examined. We were primarily interested in detecting whether
cognitive deficits were present in the mothers and offspring in the long term and used
a spatial learning and memory task as well as an object recognition task at three
timepoints: 3, 8, and 12 months post-partum or post-natal, while measuring blood
pressure and performing urine analysis after each timepoint. While we did not find
significant deficits in preeclamptic mothers at the later timepoints, we did observe
negative consequences in the pups of R+A
+ mice that coincided with hemodynamic
alterations whereby pups had higher whisker-evoked oxygenated hemoglobin levels and
increased cerebral blood flow responses compared to control pups. Our study provides
validation of this preeclampsia mouse model for future studies to decipher the underlying
mechanisms of long-term cognitive deficits found in offspring.
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