Fetal tracheal occlusion (TO) has been investigated as a treatment option for lung hypoplasia secondary to Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). While it has been shown to promote larger lungs, it is unclear whether TO stimulates mature lung growth or simply induces alveolarization without concomitant bronchial development, a distinction with important clinical implications. We employed the Nitrofen rat model of CDH to investigate the effect of TO on fetal lung branching through morphometric examination, lung casting, lung histology and comparison of two molecular markers involved in lung growth. Nitrofen administration retarded lung growth through decreased lung branching and delayed molecular marker expression profiles. TO did not promote lung branching as manifest by unchanged gross branching, although TO and the stress of in utero surgery may induce late lung maturation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.97898 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Baird, Robert, 1976- |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Division of Surgical Research.) |
| Rights | © Robert Baird, 2006 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002332469, proquestno: AAIMR24608, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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