|
|
||||||||
Institute of Anatomy, University of Bern, CH-3000 Bern 9, Switzerland
Prematurely born babies are often treated with glucocorticoids. We studied the consequences of an early postnatal and short dexamethasone treatment (0.1-0.01 µg/g, days 1-4) on lung development in rats, focusing on its influence on peaks of cell proliferation around day 4 and of programmed cell death at days 19-21. By morphological criteria, we observed a dexamethasone-induced premature maturation of the septa (day 4), followed by a transient septal immatureness and delayed alveolarization leading to complete rescue of the structural changes. The numbers of proliferating (anti-Ki67) and dying cells (TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling) were determined and compared with controls. In dexamethasone-treated animals, both the peak of cell proliferation and the peak of programmed cell death were reduced to baseline, whereas the expression of tissue transglutaminase (transglutaminase-C), another marker for postnatal lung maturation, was not significantly altered. We hypothesize that a short neonatal course of dexamethasone leads to severe but transient structural changes of the lung parenchyma and influences the balance between cell proliferation and cell death even in later stages of lung maturation.
apoptosis; glucocorticoids; tissue transglutaminase
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
J. C. Schittny, S. I. Mund, and M. Stampanoni Evidence and structural mechanism for late lung alveolarization Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol, February 1, 2008; 294(2): L246 - L254. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
O. Boucherat, M.-L. Franco-Montoya, C. Thibault, R. Incitti, B. Chailley-Heu, C. Delacourt, and J. R. Bourbon Gene expression profiling in lung fibroblasts reveals new players in alveolarization Physiol Genomics, December 19, 2007; 32(1): 128 - 141. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
D. K. Meyerholz, J. A. DeGraaff, J. M. Gallup, A. K. Olivier, and M. R. Ackermann Depletion of Alveolar Glycogen Corresponds With Immunohistochemical Development of CD208 Antigen Expression in Perinatal Lamb Lung J. Histochem. Cytochem., November 1, 2006; 54(11): 1247 - 1253. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. Kovar, K. E. Willet, A. Hislop, and P. D. Sly Impact of postnatal glucocorticoids on early lung development J Appl Physiol, March 1, 2005; 98(3): 881 - 888. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. K. Banerjee, H. W. J. Young, A. Barczak, D. J. Erle, and M. R. Blackburn Abnormal Alveolar Development Associated with Elevated Adenine Nucleosides Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol., January 1, 2004; 30(1): 38 - 50. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
I. Herr, E. Ucur, K. Herzer, S. Okouoyo, R. Ridder, P. H. Krammer, M. von Knebel Doeberitz, and K.-M. Debatin Glucocorticoid Cotreatment Induces Apoptosis Resistance toward Cancer Therapy in Carcinomas Cancer Res., June 15, 2003; 63(12): 3112 - 3120. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
C. Barazzone-Argiroffo, A. Pagano, C. Juge, I. Metrailler, A. Rochat, C. Vesin, and Y. Donati Glucocorticoids aggravate hyperoxia-induced lung injury through decreased nuclear factor-kappa B activity Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol, January 1, 2003; 284(1): L197 - L204. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
I. F. McMurtry Editorial: Introduction: pre- and postnatal lung development, maturation, and plasticity Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol, March 1, 2002; 282(3): L341 - L344. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| Visit Other APS Journals Online |