Use of data mining to determine changes in the gene expression profiles of rat embryos following prenatal exposure to inflammatory stimulants

Abstract

Numerous clinical epidemiology and laboratory studies have demonstrated a close association between inflammation or immunity and the occurrence of hypertension. Our group has previously shown that upon intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or zymosan (Zym) into pregnant rats, the offspring of the experimental group exhibited higher blood pressure levels compared with the control group, and these may be associated with the effects of an accumulation of gene expression changes on female rats during pregnancy. The present study used the Affymetrix GeneChip® Rat Genome 230 2.0 Array to examine gene expression profile changes in the embryos of experimental pregnant rats intraperitoneally injected with LPS or Zym vs. the untreated controls. We discovered that genes associated with DNA replication and mRNA processing were significantly upregulated by the stimuli from analysis using GenMAPP. By contrast, genes involved in the calcium regulatory pathway in cardiac myocytes and the signaling pathway in smooth muscle contraction and relaxation were the most downregulated. Results of the microarray analysis showed that immuno-inflammatory stimuli during pregnancy affected the gene expression profiles of the embryos. These changes in gene expression may affect the developmental and metabolic status of the offspring, thereby increasing their susceptibility to hypertension and obesity.