Biol Reprod Email Content Delivery
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

BOR - Papers in Press, published online ahead of print July 13, 2005.
Biol Reprod 2005, 10.1095/biolreprod.105.043018
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
73/5/983    most recent
biolreprod.105.043018v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Jishage, K.-i.
Right arrow Articles by Suzuki, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Jishage, K.-i.
Right arrow Articles by Suzuki, H.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Jishage, K.-i.
Right arrow Articles by Suzuki, H.
BIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION 73, 983–987 (2005)
DOI: 10.1095/biolreprod.105.043018
© 2005 by the Society for the Study of Reproduction, Inc.

Vitamin E Is Essential for Mouse Placentation but Not for Embryonic Development Itself

Kou-ichi Jishage 2, Takanori Tachibe 2, Tsuneo Ito 2, Norihito Shibata 3, Shigeo Suzuki 2, Toshio Mori 2, Toshio Hani 2, Hiroyuki Arai 3, and Hiroshi Suzuki 1, 4,5 

Pharmacology and Pathology Research Center,2 Chugai Research Institute for Medical Science, Inc., Gotemba, Shizuoka, 412-8513, Japan Department of Health Chemistry, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences,3 Department of Developmental and Medical Technology, Graduate School of Medicine,4 University of Tokyo, 113-0033 Tokyo, Japan National Research Centre for Protozoan Diseases,5 Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, 080-8555, Japan

Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) was discovered 80 years ago to be an indispensable nutrient for reproduction in the female. However, it has not been clarified when or where vitamin E is required during pregnancy. We examined the role of alpha-tocopherol in pregnancy using alpha-tocopherol transfer protein (Ttpa)-deficient mice fed specific alpha-tocopherol diets that led to daily, measurable change in plasma alpha-tocopherol levels from nearly normal to almost undetectable levels. A dietary supplement of alpha-tocopherol to pregnant Ttpa–/– (homozygous null) mice was shown to be essential for maintenance of pregnancy from 6.5 to 13.5 days postcoitum but found not to be crucial before or after this time span, which corresponds to initial development and maturation of the placenta. In addition, exposure to a low alpha-tocopherol environment after initiation of placental formation might result in necrosis of placental syncytiotrophoblast cells, followed by necrosis of fetal blood vessel endothelial cells. When Ttpa–/–-fertilized eggs were transferred into Ttpa+/+ (wild-type) recipients, plasma alpha-tocopherol concentrations in the Ttpa–/– fetuses were below the detection limit but the fetuses grew normally. These results indicate that alpha-tocopherol is indispensable for the proliferation and/or function of the placenta but not necessary for development of the embryo itself.

embryo, placenta, syncytiotrophoblast, trophoblast

1 Correspondence: Hiroshi Suzuki, National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Nishi 2-13, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido, 080-8555, Japan. FAX: 81 155 49 5643; hisuzuki{at}obihiro.ac.jp






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2005 by the Society for the Study of Reproduction.