Biomaterial Database

Lung development in the fetal guinea pig: surfactant, morphology, and premature viability. 1987

I R Sosenko, and L Frank

Guinea pigs demonstrate "precocious" physical and functional development, with newborns displaying open eyes, hair, self-feeding, and temperature regulation. In addition, morphologic lung development is precocious in the guinea pig, with advanced alveolarization taking place in utero. To explore whether pulmonary surfactant development is also advanced, and at what stage prematurely delivered guinea pigs are capable of survival, we delivered fetal guinea pigs at 2- to 3-day intervals from day 49 of gestation to day 69 (birth). These were examined for chronologic changes in lung morphology, lung tissue disaturated phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol and glycogen content, and serum glucocorticoid and thyroid hormone levels. Other prematurely delivered guinea pigs were given brief postnatal resuscitation and their survival noted. We confirmed advanced morphologic lung maturation, yet found that surfactant development, with antecedent hormone peaks and glycogen depletion, occurs during the final 10-15% of gestation. Lung biochemical development is thus "on time" in the guinea pig, rather than "precocious" compared to other frequently studied laboratory animals. In addition, greater than 50% of fetal guinea pigs are capable of survival by 8 days prior to term, well in advance of premature survivability in other small-sized species.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008168	Lung	Either of the pair of organs occupying the cavity of the thorax that effect the aeration of the blood.	Lungs
D010715	Phosphatidylglycerols	A nitrogen-free class of lipids present in animal and particularly plant tissues and composed of one mole of glycerol and 1 or 2 moles of phosphatidic acid. Members of this group differ from one another in the nature of the fatty acids released on hydrolysis.	Glycerol Phosphoglycerides,Monophosphatidylglycerols,Phosphatidylglycerol,Phosphatidyl Glycerol,Glycerol, Phosphatidyl,Phosphoglycerides, Glycerol
D011247	Pregnancy	The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.	Gestation,Pregnancies
D011663	Pulmonary Surfactants	Substances and drugs that lower the SURFACE TENSION of the mucoid layer lining the PULMONARY ALVEOLI.	Surfactants, Pulmonary,Pulmonary Surfactant,Surfactant, Pulmonary
D003345	Corticosterone	An adrenocortical steroid that has modest but significant activities as a mineralocorticoid and a glucocorticoid. (From Goodman and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 8th ed, p1437)
D005260	Female		Females
D005314	Embryonic and Fetal Development	Morphological and physiological development of EMBRYOS or FETUSES.	Embryo and Fetal Development,Prenatal Programming,Programming, Prenatal
D005865	Gestational Age	The age of the conceptus, beginning from the time of FERTILIZATION. In clinical obstetrics, the gestational age is often estimated from the onset of the last MENSTRUATION which is about 2 weeks before OVULATION and fertilization. It is also estimated to begin from fertilization, estrus, coitus, or artificial insemination.	Embryologic Age,Fetal Maturity, Chronologic,Chronologic Fetal Maturity,Fetal Age,Maturity, Chronologic Fetal,Age, Embryologic,Age, Fetal,Age, Gestational,Ages, Embryologic,Ages, Fetal,Ages, Gestational,Embryologic Ages,Fetal Ages,Gestational Ages
D006003	Glycogen
D006168	Guinea Pigs	A common name used for the genus Cavia. The most common species is Cavia porcellus which is the domesticated guinea pig used for pets and biomedical research.	Cavia,Cavia porcellus,Guinea Pig,Pig, Guinea,Pigs, Guinea