Pregnant biglycan knockout mice have altered cardiorenal adaptations and a shorter gestational length, but do not develop a pre-eclamptic phenotype

Abstract

Introduction: Pre-eclampsia complicates 4.6% of pregnancies and is linked to impaired placentation; likely due to dysregulated vasculogenesis/angiogenesis. Proteoglycans, such as biglycan, are located on the endothelial surface of fetal capillaries. Biglycan is reduced in the placenta of pregnancies complicated by fetal growth restriction and pre-eclampsia. Importantly, biglycan stimulates angiogenesis in numerous tissues. Therefore, this study investigated whether biglycan knockdown in mice results in a pre-eclamptic phenotype. Methods: Wild-type (WT) and Bgn-/- mice underwent cardiorenal measurements prior to and during pregnancy. One cohort of mice underwent post-mortem on gestational day..