Transgenerational transmission of bone deficits in growth restricted offspring

Abstract

Uteroplacental insufficiency (UPI) reduces uterine blood flow leading to low birth weight offspring with programmed adult bone deficits. We investigated the effects of UPI on F1 maternal bone in pregnancy and if deficits are passed to F2 using embryo‐transfer (ET). UPI was induced by bilateral uterine vessel ligation (Restricted, R; Control, C) in rats. One cohort of pregnant F1 C and F1 R rats was culled on embryonic day (E) 20. ET was performed on E1 in a cohort of F1 females, with F2 embryos gestated in Control (C‐in‐C, R‐in‐C) or Restricted (C‐in‐R, R‐in‐R) mothers. Non‐ET offspring were also generated. Growth and pQCT femur analysis was performed. R F..