Prenatal Programming of Metabolic Syndrome in the Common Marmoset Is Associated With Increased Expression of 11β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 1

OBJECTIVE: Recent studies in humans and animal models of obesity have shown increased adipose tissue activity of 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11beta-HSD1), which amplifies local tissue glucocorticoid concentrations. The reasons for this 11beta-HSD1 dysregulation are unknown. Here, we tested whether 11beta-HSD1 expression, like the metabolic syndrome, is "programmed" by prenatal environmental events in a nonhuman primate model, the common marmoset monkey. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We used a "fetal programming" paradigm where brief antenatal exposure to glucocorticoids leads to the metabolic syndrome in the offspring. Pregnant marmosets were given the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone orally for 1 week in either early or late gestation, or they were given vehicle. Tissue 11beta-HSD1 and glucocorticoid receptor mRNA expression were examined in the offspring at 4 and 24 months of age. RESULTS: Prenatal dexamethasone administration, selectively during late gestation, resulted in early and persistent elevations in 11beta-HSD1 mRNA expression and activity in the liver, pancreas, and subcutaneous-but not visceral-fat. The increase in 11beta-HSD1 occurred before animals developed obesity or overt features of the metabolic syndrome. In contrast to rodents, in utero dexamethasone exposure did not alter glucocorticoid receptor expression in metabolic tissues in marmosets. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that long-term upregulation of 11beta-HSD1 in metabolically active tissues may follow prenatal "stress" hormone exposure and indicates a novel mechanism for fetal origins of adult obesity and the metabolic syndrome

Study of electron transport in hydrocarbon gases

The drift velocity and the effective ionization coefficient of electrons in the organic gases, C2H2, C2H4, C2H6, CH3OH, C2H5OH, C6H6, and C6H5CH3, have been measured over relatively wide ranges of density-reduced electric fields (E/N) at room temperature (around 300 K). The drift velocity was measured, based on the arrival-time spectra of electrons by using a double-shutter drift tube over the E/N range from 300 to 2800 Td, and the effective ionization coefficient (alpha - eta) was determined by the steady-state Townsend method from 150 to 3000 Td. Whenever possible, these parameters were compared with those available in the literature. It has been shown that the swarm parameters for these gases have specific tendencies, depending on their molecular configurations