Funding outcome

Infants who are born with growth restriction have a high risk of problems with breathing both as newborn as well as later in life. In fact, being with growth restriction contributes to a greater risk of problems with breathing then being born early, also called preterm. Much of what we know about breathing problems in newborn infants comes from what we know about infants who are born preterm so little is understood about how growth restriction, separate from being born preterm, contributes to breathing problems in early life. Growth restriction may changes how the lung development. We are interested in whether growth restriction, or the factors that lead to growth restriction, also changes how the breathing is controlled . In this project, we will look use an animal model of growth restriction to see if growth restriction changes how breathing is controlled. In a rat model of growth restriction, a reduction in the blood flow to the uterus causes some rat pups to be born small. We will measure breathing patterns, as a measure of breathing control, in growth restricted and normally grown rat pups at different ages by placing them in a special tube where we can measure how fast and deep they breathe. After we record the baseline breathing in the rat pups, we will change the air they breathe to a low oxygen level and see how this changes their breathing pattern. We will then compare the baseline breathing pattern and response to low oxygen between the growth restricted and normal grown rat pups at each age. Finally, we will determine if a drug therapy that we demonstrated to help stabilize breathing in a premature rat model will also be effective in this model.