Fetal kidney programming by maternal smoking exposure: effects on kidney structure, blood pressure and urinary sodium excretion in adult offspring.

Introduction: Fetal programming by different insults results in low birth weight and reduction in nephron number increasing the risk for adult development of cardiovascular and renal diseases. Maternal smoking is an important modifiable adverse fetal exposure worldwide and leads to a decrease in the offspring's birth weight. Thus far, the specific adverse fetal smoking exposures and mechanisms underlying these associations on renal development and functional disorder are unclear.

Impact of taurine supplementation on blood pressure in gestational protein-restricted offspring: Effect on the medial solitary tract nucleus cell numbers, angiotensin receptors, and renal sodium handling.

Objective: The current study considers changes of the postnatal brainstem cell number and angiotensin receptors by maternal protein restriction (LP) and LP taurine supplementation (LPT), and its impact on arterial hypertension development in adult life.

Methods And Results: The brain tissue studies were performed by immunoblotting, immunohistochemistry, and isotropic fractionator analysis. The current study shows that elevated blood pressure associated with decreased fractional urinary sodium excretion (FENa) in adult LP offspring was reverted by diet taurine supplementation.