Funding outcome

One of the most noticeable demographic trends across the world is that women are getting pregnant at an older age, also called advanced maternal age. Advanced maternal age is considered a pregnancy in women aged 35 years or older. One in every five live births in Canada is from a woman of age ≥35 years and this incidence is projected to rise in the next decades. It is known that pregnancy in women of advanced age leads to an increased risk of complications, such as low birthweight, preeclampsia (high blood pressure in pregnancy), preterm birth, and caesarean section. These complications are associated with higher mortality and morbidity in the mother and the baby. Therefore, understanding how these complications of pregnancy occur is essential for improving pregnancy outcomes. While going through a healthy pregnancy, a variety of changes occur within the mother's heart and blood vessels to provide enough oxygen and nutrients to the growing baby. However, failure of these changes in the heart and blood vessels during pregnancy can have a harmful effect on both the mother and the growing baby. We have previously shown that these changes are not developing in the way that they should in pregnancies at advanced age. Research has shown that normal blood vessel function can be disrupted by the accumulation of damaging molecules (also called oxidative stress) within the blood vessel. This can result in the blood vessel not functioning as well as necessary. Moreover, oxidative stress is commonly seen in blood vessels from aging people. Therefore, in the current study, we aim to study the specific mechanisms by which oxidative stress might be responsible for abnormal changes in the adaptations of the blood vessels to pregnancy at advanced maternal age. To study this, we will use an animal model of advanced maternal age in both pregnant and nonpregnant rats. We will assess blood vessel function and measure the amount of oxidative stress in the blood vessels. Eventually, by lowering the amount of oxidative stress in the blood vessels, we could improve the disturbed blood vessel function in pregnancies at advanced maternal age. These studies are important because by understanding the process by which aging and oxidative stress affect blood vessel function during pregnancy, we may develop interventions to improve pregnancy outcomes in women of advanced maternal age in the future.