Reproduction Abstracts

Analgesics which work through altering the production and/or actions of prostaglandins (PGs) are widely used by pregnant women. In earlier research, the analgesics in maternal blood circulation can target cyclooxygenase-2 and PGE2 receptors in fetal germ cells (GC), affect the next generation. Both sexes of F1 rats exposed to analgesic in utero showed reduced germ cell (GC) number in gonads at the fetal stage, and reduced ovarian oocyte reserve in adult stage and/or i...

Some adult diseases are programmed in utero by fetal exposure to abnormal concentrations of steroid hormones. Threatened miscarriage in early pregnancy is treated by progesterone in many countries although robust evidence of efficacy is lacking. We hypothesised that increased progesterone concentrations may alter fetal development. In a small pilot study, using a pregnant sheep model, we administered 200 mg progesterone twice weekly from d20–d75 of gestation and ...