Reciprocal embryo transfer between SHR and WKY. II. Effect on cardiovascular development.

In order to study the in vivo effect of putative hypertensinogenic factors on early development of the cardiovascular system, embryos were reciprocally transferred between WKY and SHR to allow embryonic and fetal development of WKY in a hypertensive intrauterine environment and SHR in a non-hypertensive uterine environment. In one day-old neonates blood vessel dimensions and blood pressures were assessed. Pressures were also measured in animals which matured to the adult stage to determine whether there were any long-term effects on pressure of having developed in an in utero environment different from the one they would have naturally experienced. The data indicate that there are no consistent effects of intrauterine environment on vascular development, as indicated by the fact that normalized wall/lumen ratios were not different between normal and transferred animals, and immediate and long-term pressures were also similar in normal and transferred groups.