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Updated: Sep 27, 2026

Fetal Echocardiography and Pulsed-wave Doppler Ultrasound in a Rabbit Model of Intrauterine Growth Restriction
Published on: June 29, 2013
[Role of placental apoptosis in fetal growth restriction]
Yuan Liu1, Peng Gao, Yingbo Xie
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China.
Objective:
To determine the relationship of placental cellular apoptosis and pathophysiology of fetal growth restriction (FGR).
Methods:
Placental samples were obtained from 18 pregnancies complicated by FGR and 14 normal pregnancies. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labeling (TUNEL) and transmission electron microscopy were used to confirm the occurrence of apoptosis.
Results:
In FGR group the placental apoptosis rate was (n = 18) 12.1 per thousand, the average placental weight was (236 +/- 24) g, the average birth weight was (2,071 +/- 428) g; In normal group (n = 14), the placental apoptosis rate was 7.3 per thousand, the average placental weight was (354 +/- 63) g, the average birth weight was (3,411 +/- 588) g (P < 0.05). The incidence of apoptosis was significantly higher in placental samples from pregnancies with FGR compared with normal placental samples (P < 0.05). Under transmission election microscopy, apoptosis was obviously compact and the chromatins were formed as mass.
Conclusion:
These results suggest that apoptosis may play a role in the pathophysiologic mechanisms of FGR.
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