A Model of Intrauterine Growth Restriction Induced by Bilateral Uterine Vessel Clamping in Pregnant Rats

Abstract

Background: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is considered to be a major risk for cerebral palsy and disability after birth. However, IUGR lacks effective treatment strategies. We aimed to establish a rat model of bilateral uterine artery ischemia-reperfusion as a surgical model of IUGR.Methods: At the 17th day of pregnancy, six Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into sham (NOR) and growth restriction (GR) groups. In the GR groups, four small artery clamps were used to occlude the uterine vessels near the lower and upper ends of the bilateral horns for 25 min; then, the clamps were removed, and the horns were placed back into the abdomen cavity. In the sham-operated animals, the uterine horns were exposed for 25 min without artery clamping. After labour and delivery, the death rates and weights during the first 8 days of newborn rats were recorded. A pathological examination was performed with hematoxylin-eosin staining (HE)　staining and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling staining (TUNEL) on 4-day-old and 8-day-old brain tissues of the newborn rats.Results: The mortality within the first 24 h of rats in the GR group were increased (66.7% vs 0.0%), and their daily weights within the first 8 postnatal days were decreased. In addition, the karyopyknosis percentages of 4-day-old and 8-day-old rats were increased (4-day-old: 45% vs 11%; 8-day-old: 34.7% vs 5.3%), and the numbers of TUNEL-positive cells were increased (4-day-old: 110 vs 12.7; 8-day-old: 146.7 vs 4).Conclusions: This model of foetal IUGR produced a decrease in weight, an increase in the death rate within 24 h and an increase in apoptosis in newborn rats. The establishment of the model was successful.  Citation: Min Diao, Hao Li, Yi Qu, Hui Liu, Yu-Shan Ma, Xue-Mei Lin. A model of intrauterine growth restriction was induced by bilateral uterine vessel clamping in pregnant rats. J Anesth Perioper Med 2017;4: 101-7. doi:10.24015/JAPM.2017.0026This is an open-access article, published by Evidence Based Communications (EBC). This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format for any lawful purpose. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.