Early Fetal Development Flashcards
What are the possible causes of pregnancy loss?
- errors in embryo-fetal development
- failure of the embryo to implant in the uterine lining
- unable to sustain the development of an implanted embryo/fetus
What is a miscarriage?
loss of a pregnancy prior to 23 weeks gestation
What is early clinical pregnancy loss?
<12 weeks gestation
What is late clinical pregnancy loss?
> 24 weeks gestation
What is a recurrect miscarriage/recurrent pregnancy loss?
UK: 3 or more pregnancy losses
US/EU: 2 or more
How to detect a pregnancy?
- hcG test
- fetal heartbeat
What is a pre-clinical pregnancy loss?
- pre-implantation (30%)
- post-implantation (30%) (3-4weeks gestation)
What is the most common cause of pregnancy loss before 12 weeks gestation?
Aneuploidy (50%)
Why does aneuploidy increase with maternal age?
- during f meiotic arrest, the chromatids of homologous chromosomes are held together by cohesin proteins
- cohesin proteins are not replaced, leading to loss of cohesion between chromatids with increasing age of the oocyte
- If cohesion is lost, chromatids can separate and drift during meiotic division, rather than being segregated accurately by the spindle.
What signalling pathway underpins recurrent pregnancy loss?
- Reduced levels of LIF in the uterine secretions of subfertile women (impacting implantation)
- Non-selective uterus hypothesis
What is the non-selective uterus hypothesis
- Uterus permits implantation of poor quality embryos
- Changes in uterine mucin expression in women with RM/RPL
What is required for viable development of the fetus and the placenta?
maternal and parentally-derived genomes
Why is maternal and paternal genomes required for normal fetal development?
imprinted genes
- paternal: embryo>mother
- maternal: restrict embryo for future pregnancies
What are Gestational Trophoblastic Diseases (GTD)?
a collection of disorders characterised by overgrowth of trophoblastic tissue
What are the 2 different types of GTDs?
- benign (hydatidiform moles)
- malignant (gestational trophoblastic neoplasias)
How do complete hydatidiform moles arise?
empty egg fertilized by:
- 1x sperm with genome duplication
- 2 x sperm.
How do partial hydatidiform moles arise?
normal egg fertilized by:
- 1x sperm with genome duplication
- 2 x sperm
What may underly recurrent hydatidiform moles?
NLRP7 mutations
failure to recognise and clear a failed pregnancy
What is an ectopic pregnancy?
Implantation of the embryo at a site other than the uterine endometrium
Where do most ectopic pregnancies occur?
98% in the fallopian tube
How common are ectopic pregnancy?
1-1.5% of pregnancies
What are the treatment options for ectopic pregnancies?
- expectant managemnet
- chemotherapy (methotrexate)
- surgery to remove the trophoblast +/- tube
What are the main risk factors for ectopic pregnancy?
- history of ectopic pregnancies + infertility
- certain STIs
- Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
- Endometriosis
- maternal age >35yo
- cannabis use (mothers)
- smoking (mothers)
- IVF
How does cigarette smoking increase the risk of the ectopic pregnancy?
Continine:
- regulates the expression of PROKR1, a regulator of fallopian tube smooth muscle contractility.
- induces pro-apoptosis protein expression in fallopian tube explants
Tobacco smoke inhibits ciliary function»_space; ?reduce tubal transit of the embryo
How does cannabis use affect the fallopian tube?
- reduced CB1 receptor (cannaboid receptor in fallopian tubes) levels
- THC acts directs, perturbing embryo transit
(embryo retention in mice) - endocannabinoid levels are elevated in ectopic pregnanies
- THC may act directly on fallopian tube to delay embryo transport
- alter the balance of endocannabinoids (the tone), balance of production and breakdown of endocannabinoids, leading to a disruption to the embryo environment
What 2 types of folding does the primitive gut arise from?
- ventral folding (head and tail end curl together)
- lateral folding (where the 2 sides of the embryo roll)
What is the fertilisation age?
- measured from time of fertilisation (+1 day from last ovulation)
- difficult to know the exact time of fertilisation (IVF)
What is the gestational age?
- calculated from the time of the beginning of the last menstrual period
- determined by the fertilization date (+14 days) if known, or early obstetric ultrasound and comparison to embryo size charts
What is the carnegie stage?
- 23 stages of embryo development based on features not time
- allows comparison of development rates between species
- covers the window of 0-60 days fertilization age in humans
When is the embryogenic stage?
14/16 days post fertilisation
What is the embryogenic stage?
- establishing the early embryo from the fertilised oocyte
What is the embryogenic stage characterised by?
the formation of:
- pluripotent embryonic cells (fetus)
- extaembryonic cells (contribute to the support structures like the placenta)
When is the embryonic stage?
16-50 days post fertilization
What is the embryonic stage characterised by?
- establishment of the germ layers and differentiation of tissue types
- establishment of the body plan
When is the fetal stage?
50-270 days post fertilisation
What is the fetal stage characterised by?
- major organ systems are now present
- migration of some organ systems to the final location
- extensive growth and acquisition of fetal viability (survival outside of the womb)
What makes up the first trimester?
first 12 weeks of pregnancy
- embryogenic stage
- embryonic stage
What makes up the second and third trimester?
- fetal stage
12 week
When does the transition between embryo to fetus occur?
at the end of the first trimester
What is the structure formed immediately after fertilisation?
zygote (1 cell)
What does the zygote develop into?
cleavage stage embryos
How many cells are in cleavage stage embryos?
2-8 cells
What does the cleavage stage embryos (8 cells) develop into?
morula (16+ cells)
What does a morula (16 cells) develop into?
blastocyst (200-300 cells)
Where are all of these divisions occuring in?
the zona pellucida
When does the maternal-zygotic transition occur?
at the 4-8 cell stage
What happens before the maternal-zygotic transition?
- none of the genes of the embryo are transcribes
- the embryo relies on maternal mRNAs and proteins to get through the first divisions
Where does the embryo get the maternal mRNA and proteins needed to get through the first divisions?
they are synthesized and stored during oocyte development pre-ovulation
What happens if the embryo does not have these maternal mRNAs and proteins to get through the first divisions?
failure to synthesise, store or interpret may impair embryonic development
What happens in the maternal-to-zygotic transition?
- transcription of embryonic genes (zygotic genome activation)
- increased protein synthesis
- organelle (mitochondria, Golgi) maturation
When does compaction occur?
at 8 cell stage or later (morula)
What is the result of the compaction?
the formation of the first 2 distinct cell types
What happens in compaction?
- outer cells are pressed against the zona pellucida
- change from spherical to wedge shaped
- outer cells connect through tight gap junctions and desmosomes
- forms barriers to diffusion between inner and outer embryo
- outer cells become polarized
What happens when a compacted morula develops into a blastocyst?
inner and outer cells reorganise to form the blastocoel cavity
What is the Zona Pellucida?
hard protein shell inhibiting polyspermy and protects the early embryo
What do the inner cells formed in compaction give rise to?
pluripotent embryonic cells (contribute to fetus)
What do the outer cells formed in compaction give rise to?
extra-embryonic cells that contribute to the extra-embryonic cells
What is the name given to the outer cell border formed during compaction?
trophoectoderm
What is a Blastocoel?
fluid-filled cavity formed osmotically by trophoblast pumping Na+ ions into the cavity
When does hatching occur?
day 5-6
Why does hatching occur?
- to escape the zona pellucida
- to implant the blastocyst
How does hatching occur?
- enzymatic digestion
- cellular contraction
When do the peri-implantation events occur?
day 7-9
What happens on the initial implantation of the blastocyst to the uterine endometrium?
- trophoectoderm separates into the syncytiotrophoblast
and cytotrophoblast - inner cell mass seperates into an epiblasts and hypoblasts