Repro: Pregnancy and Adaptation Flashcards
What is the week of 2’s?
Two distinct cell layers
Outer cell mass
- Syncytiotrophoblast
- Cytotrophoblast
Inner cell mass becomes the bilaminar disk
- Epiblast
- Hypoblast
What are 2 cavities in the embryo?
- Amniotic cavity
- Yolk sac
How is the embryo suspended in the chorionic cavity?
-Connecting Stalk
What is the fate of embryonic spaces?
- The yolk sac disappears
- The amniotic sac enlarges
- The chorionic sac is occupied by the expanding amniotic sac
What does implantation achieve?
Establishes the basic unit of exchange
-Primary villi: early finger-like projections of trophoblast
-Secondary villi: invasion of mesenchyme into core
-Tertiary villi: invasion of mesenchyme core by fetal vessels
Anchor the placenta
Establish maternal blood flow within the placenta
How does membrane change through pregnancy?
- Implantation is interstitial (the uterine epithelium is breached and the conceptus implants within the stroma)
- The placental membrane becomes progressively thinner as the needs of the fetus increase
- In the human one layer of trophoblast ultimately separates maternal blood from fetal capillary wall (but the two circulations never mix)
What is a chorionic villus?
The placenta is a specialisation of the chronic villus. The chorion fondusum is the outer layer and has fingerlike projections. This allows finger-like projections from trophoblast that have vessels to allow for good exchange.
What are the possible implantation defects?
- Impantation in the wrong place (Ectopic pregnancy, Placenta praevia)
- Incomplete Invasion (Placental Insufficiency, Pre-Eclampsia)
Why is ectopic pregnancy bad?
- No decidua therefore no control
- The conceptus can invade into tissues
How does the chorionic villus change from first semester to third semester?
First trimester - Thicker barrier
Third Trimester - Thinner barrier
What is the blood vessels to the umbilicus?
- Two umbilical arteries to transport deoxygenated blood from foetus to placenta
- Umbilical vein to transport Oxygenated blood from placenta to fetus
Which hormones are produced by the placenta?
Protein
- Human chorionic gonadotrophin
- Human chorionic somatomammotrophin
- Human chorionic thyrotrophin
- Human chorionic corticotrophin
Steroid
- Progesterone
- Oestrogen
What is hCG?
- Hormone produced in the first 2 months of pregnancy
- Supports secretory function of corpus luteum
- Produced by syncytiotrophoblast therefore pregnancy specific
- Excreted in eternal urine and therefore used as a basis for pregnancy testing
How do placental hormones influence maternal metabolism?
- Progesterone increases appetite in order to lay down fat stores which will be called upon later in pregnancy
- hCS/hPL increases glucose availability to fetus. Causes insulin resistance in maternal tissue so other stores are used by mother so the foetus gets glucose
What are transport functions of the placenta?
- Simple diffusion (water, electrolytes, urea/uric acid, gases)
- Facilitated diffusion (applies to glucose transport)
How does gas exchange occur in the placenta?
- Simple diffusion
- Diffusion barrier is small and decreases as pregnancy proceeds
- Flow limited, not diffusion limited. Low stores of fetal oxygen so needs adequate low
- Gradient of partial pressure is required so fetal pO2 must be lower than maternal pO2 which increases marginally.
Describe active transport in the placenta
Specific transporters expressed by syncytiotrophoblast for:
- Amino acids
- Iron
- Vitamins
How does transfer of passive immunity occur?
- Fetal immune system is immature
- Receptor mediated process maturing as pregnancy progresses
- Immunoglobulin class-specific
- IgG only. Concentration in fetal plasma exceed this in maternal circulation
Why is the placenta not a true barrier?
- Teratogens can access the fetus via the placenta
- Unintentional outcomes from physiological process. Haemolytic disease of the newborn secondary to Rhesus incompatibility of mother and fetus. Can lead to destruction of metal erythrocytes. It can be prophylactically treated
What are examples of harmful substances and the placenta?
- Thalidomide (Limb defects)
- Alcohol (FAS and ARND)
- Therapeutic drugs (anti-epileptic drugs, warfarin, ACE inhibitors)
- Drugs of abuse (dependancy in the fetus and newborn)
- Maternal smoking
What are the periods of susceptibility to teratogenesis?
Pre embryonic
-Lethal effects
Embryonic
- More sensitive
- Narrow windows for some systems
Fetal
+/- sensitive
After embryonic period, risk of structural defects very low
-Except CNS as development occurs throughout
What are the structures(vessels) of the maternal-fetal exchange that happens at the placenta?
- Fetal circulation
- Umbilical arteries (deoxygenated blood)
- Umbilical vein (oxygenated blood)
- Fetal capillaries within chorionic villi (increase surface area)
- Uterine arteries
- Uterine veins (maternal blood lakes in the intervillous spaces)
What factors increase fetal O2 content?
- Fetal haemaglobin variant
- Fetal haematocrit is increased over that in the adult
- Increased maternal production of 2,3 DPG secondary to physiological respiratory alkalosis of pregnancy
- Double Bohr effect
What is the fetal haemoglobin variant?
- 2 alpha subunits plus 2 gamma subunits
- Greater affinity fo oxygen because it doesn’t bind 2,3-DPG as effectively as HbA